


Between the Li[n]es

by ParabolaBeam



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Angst and Fluff and Smut, Canon Compliant, Canon Congruent, Cunnilingus, Degradation, Denial of Feelings, Dirty Talk, Double Penetration, Established Relationship, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Heavy Petting, M/M, Masturbation, Miu and Kokichi's canon-typical dialogue, Multi, Nipple Play, Oral Sex, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Attempted Sexual Abuse, Past Child Abuse, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Robot Anatomy, Sexual Roleplay, Survivor Guilt, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, alternate POV, erotic asphyxiation, gagging, wireplay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-03
Updated: 2019-04-25
Packaged: 2019-07-06 11:35:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 47,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15885231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ParabolaBeam/pseuds/ParabolaBeam
Summary: Step one: Make your bed.Step two: Lie in it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I'm sure some of you are wondering about the status of From Hell to the Moon-I haven't forgotten about it! I just finished DRV3 in June and I've been working on this ever since as an attempt to get back into writing more regularly. Rest assured I do plan to come back to it, though I might do little oneshots here there and otherwise while I work on getting back in the swing. I have this fic almost entirely planned out, so I'm feeling a little more confident about getting it done. The chapters are, as you've probably noticed, going to be quite chunky as a result. I've got a lot planned.
> 
> Thank you for your continued patience! Please enjoy the first chapter!

Dense earth, and damp, stale air. His lungs sucked in a harsh breath as his fingers curled, dirt caking under his nails.

Kokichi gagged wretchedly, eyes opening to complete darkness. He raised his head from the ground and felt an instant wave of nausea as something wet dripped down the bridge of his nose. He swiped his sleeve under it, but the feeling persisted, over his cheeks, out from the part in his bruised, swollen lips-

- _gushing_  from his forehead.

_How long...?_

...Wow, this was  _awful_.

"...Ha...h..."

He wobbled to his feet, feeling along the crawlspace for something, anything, that could help him orient his position.

He had to get out. There was no telling when the trial would start, and no telling how long he'd been knocked out for.

He had to get out, even if no one had noticed he was gone in the first place.

...

Shuichi and Maki were not amused by his prank, but the flutter of breath escaping their mouths upon their finding him would have to suffice for his efforts. Oh well.

What a waste.

His body still quaked with the effort to move as he left them behind down the hall, rounded a corner, and swayed towards the wall, taking the impact with his shoulder. The bell and subsequent announcement that the class trial was about to begin echoed throughout the area, the grate of Monokuma's voice intensifying the throbbing feeling in his head. The remaining students began to file past, too preoccupied with their own worries to spare him a glance. He wasn't bothered by it specifically; in fact, he was grateful to not have to put forth the energy to put on a face for anyone while he grappled with remaining conscious.

And yet...

_The 'trust' they speak of is conditional, something they'll only consider when it is convenient to do so or when it aligns with their interests. That's why it's weak, why they're so easily deceived._

"Kokichi?"

In spite of himself, he raised his slouched head to Kiibo's voice, eyes watering as his vision vignetted dangerously, lips parting without a word.

"H-Huh? H-Hey, you're injured!"

"Ohhhh. You sure about that...? Gee, someone should tell Shuichi he's in luck and can go into early retirement. Got a...new detective r-right here-"

"This is hardly the time for your deprecative brand of humor. Cranial hemorrhaging is potentially severe if left without treatment. I am going to formally request that you remain silent and reduce your excess expenditure of energy until the stability of your vitals can be ascertained."

"H-haah..." Kokichi winced as blood oozed from his wound, matting his hair in playfully morbid tangles against his cheeks and forehead. He tried to focus on anything else. He stared up at the ceiling, felt his eyes rolling back as his legs turned to jelly beneath him-

-and felt Kiibo catch him just before the impact could come, hoisting him up to leverage an arm under his trembling legs.

Cradled against his chestplate, Kokichi's lips tugged into a crooked upward slant.

"...Like a bride, huh...? Treat me right then, Kii-boy~."

With a swoon that he didn't entirely need to fake, he let his cheek rest against Kiibo's warm chestplate, closed his eyes, and left his rescuer giving an exasperated sigh at the predicament in which he found himself.

...

Even in his state of delirium, Kokichi could still tell that Kiibo was trying his best not to jostle him.

"Miu, you're still in there, right?" Kiibo called her through the door of the computer room. "Please open up, it's urgent. Kokichi has-had an accident-"

" _Ahhh-hahaha_!" Miu cackled from the other side of the door, her footsteps drawing closer, "Man oh man, I was sooo about ready to nail your tight little ass to the wall for interrupting my golden brain at work, but if you're telling me that tiny-dick  _Cuck-ichi_ has emptied his bladder all over himself,  _boy_  am I okay with seeing the look on his-"

The door swung open and Miu froze. Her voice dropped to a barely audible squeak.

"...f-face...?"

A dull metal sound echoed down the hall as the wrench she'd been holding slipped from her suddenly-limp fingers to the ground. Through squinted eyes, Kokichi took in her reaction as her expression leapt from one extreme to the next, moments apart. Her lips shivered as they parted, her breathing suddenly so much heavier, in perfect rhythm with the panicked rise and fall of her chest.

Her eyes were wide open. Transfixed.

"N-No-no, no-he's not..." Her voice cracked and a shaking hand flew to her mouth, "...not a  _third_ -sh-shit, what the  _fuck_ -"

A sense of voyeuristic pleasure came over him for letting her think the worst this long. All of her emotions were so candid and uninhibited that his penchant for tormenting her never went unrewarded.

"M-Miu no, it's not that! He just-I don't know what happened, actually, I just found him like this-"

"Th-The hell?! You shoulda told me from the start! Oh  _fuck_ ," She whimpered, biting her lip as her eyes watered, "If you tease me like that I'll...I'll go fucking crazy-j-just bring him in here! A-And prop his head up on your lap, there's too much shit in here to make him comfortable and I can't very well use  _my_  lap or my b-big beautiful titties will block my view of the little shrimp!"

Kiibo complied as Miu gestured wildly and barked orders, lowered Kokichi to the ground, and folded his knees beneath himself to create a resting point for Kokichi's neck and head. The sound of Miu's heels joined at their side and her fingers carefully slid his bangs out of the way.

"Hhhhh-! Oh for fuck's sake-!" Miu squirmed, breaking into a cold sweat, "I-It's c-c-coming so fast! It's spurting all over and...f-flowing  _ouuut_!"

It was at this juncture that Kokichi finally deigned to open his eyes, flashing her a dazzling smile.

"Aww, but Miu, at least I'm in the most capable hands possible!"

"Y-You bet your twinky little ass you are-!"

"-Because no one would know better how to get sticky stuff off your face than a nasty gutterslut like you, riiight?"

Miu's face ignited instantly, a contortion of shock, sheepishness, and that familiar submissive look he'd become such an expert at drawing out of her.

But what surprised him was the sudden weight of Kiibo's hand over his mouth. When he blinked up innocently at him he was treated to the sight of not only Miu's, but Kiibo's furious blush, his collar having closed around his mouth as he averted his eyes.

"I knew I should have been suspicious when you were so forthcoming with a compliment. Unfortunately I must now assert myself in this manner so that you do not fluster Miu further, at least until your injury is sufficiently treated-h-hey!" Kiibo snatched his hand back as a wet sensation slid in lazy circles over his palm, "Wh-Why are you licking me?!"

"To make Miu jealous!"

"Oh go fuck yourself! I can lick Kiibo  _any_  time I want!"

"M-Miu!" Kiibo's body grew so warm that it wasn't hard for Kokichi to pick out the sound of his interior fans whirring to life inside him. Miu dipped her fingers into her cleavage and pulled out a small plastic pouch, ripping it open and unfolding the pad she found inside.

"Eugh, seriously, you're gonna use  _that_?" Kokichi pulled a face and wrinkled his nose with feigned contempt and resignation, "I guess I should be grateful that you didn't just tear a used-up one out of your panties-"

"Shut it, dickmunch, I don't exactly have time to go pick up anything else! Pads are meant for absorbing blood, and they come in their own sterile packaging, so you just close your trap and count your blessings that I'm not shoving a fuckin' tampon into your brain instead!" Miu's cheeks had gotten no closer at all to losing the glow that had come over them the moment he'd started teasing her.

He couldn't help himself.

"Oh please, like anything could be considered  _sterile_  after being suffocated in your gross, pornstar, G-cup funbags-" His lips curled with amusement, head tilting back to engage Kiibo as Miu let out a loud, over-the-top moan of ecstasy at his taunts, "-You'd know most of all, right? I bet she uses your height difference to her advantage and makes you motorboat her just so you can't look at her lewd faces while you fuck~. Sound about right, Kii-boy-?"

"E-Enough! Not another word out of you until your injury is treated! I will not waver so easily this time." Kiibo declared, placing his hand back over Kokichi's mouth.

And true to his word, even when Kokichi flattened his tongue against his palm gratuitously and rutted it along the grooves of his fingers, he did not withdraw, even if his fans grew ever louder inside of him. Miu carefully pressed the pad against the gash in his head, struggling as the adhesive side clung to her fingers, but managing to sufficiently plug the wound and stop its flow. She traced the driest part of the pad over the apples of his cheeks and under his chin to clean up the blood that had streaked over them, and Kokichi stopped licking Kiibo's hand, blinking slowly. He didn't feel so lightheaded as before, but a sigh escaped him as he stared off at the ceiling between Miu and Kiibo.

Miu and Kiibo, looking over him.

...Huh.

"Aaand...done. That's the most I can do for right now with what I have and what little time we have, but-assuming we're all alive tomorrow-just come by my lab and I'll sew it up properly." Her voice had calmed down, but the tinge of red in her cheeks still lingered as she plied a lock of her hair between nervous fingers. "Just-take it easy and don't overdo it or-or something might actually happen to you-"

Kokichi mumbled against Kiibo's hand until he removed it from his mouth.

"Aww, Miu, are you worrying about me?"

Miu didn't answer.

"Or are you just schmoozing on the off-chance you can convince me to join you and Kii-boy next time you guys do some 'maintenance' together-?"

"Tch, why do I even fuckin' bother?! I guess I don't need to waste my time asking if you're feeling alright if your injury doesn't do jack shit to impair your ability to be a crass little bastard in the least!" Her words were harsh, but there was something different behind them than their usual pointed abrasion.

"...Touché. But isn't that why we all get along so well? I'll keep believing in our friendship if you guys do too!"

"...We don't have time for this shit, we're already late to the trial." Miu sighed loudly but her expression had softened somewhat. It was actually pretty surprising.

He hadn't meant to comfort her. Hadn't...decided to, rather.

He'd just done it, automatically.

As easily as breathing, or lying, or being.

Some things never changed after all.

"...Alright. Then what are we waiting for?" Kokichi chirped. Kiibo helped him to his feet and Miu got the door for them.

Just as they crossed the threshold, Kokichi piped up again.

"Oh that's right!" Kokichi sang cheerily, as if only just remembering something it should have been painfully obvious that he'd been saving for this exact moment, "You know how I said I was licking Kiibo to make Miu jealous?"

"Y-Yeah? What of it?" Miu asked, her brow furrowing with suspicion.

"...You shouldn't always assume there's only one meaning to what's being said-" He glanced down at her knees in time to watch them wobble as he dropped his voice an octave, "-especially if it's me saying it, y'know...?"

Miu swallowed hard, knowing she was going to hear those words over and over again in her head whether she wanted to or not.

...

Miu hadn't waited, neither for Kiibo or Kokichi, as everyone began their solemn, disjointed departure from the trial grounds, but Kiibo had caught a glimpse into her eyes before she marched off.

He'd seen the light he usually found in her expression dulled by the encroaching vacancy, the despair that crept in at the edges to ensnare what innocence was left.

Three. He'd had to watch it happen to her three times, now.

He hated that he was getting used to what she'd do, how she'd react. Bark some vitriol, storm off-

-the tears would start, without fail, moments before reaching the door of her lab, and he'd pretend not to notice what a mess it was the next time she invited him in.

There was an unspoken, understood misunderstanding that it was just one of her eccentricities, an indicator of something that defined her passions instead of her fears.

Anything it took to keep her from crying more than she already did.

And yet...perhaps that was the reason his feelings wouldn't ever truly reach her, why he'd never have the opportunity to console her really and truly from the bottom of his heart.

It wasn't that he thought her fragile. The problem wasn't entirely to do with her comfort alone, but it was compelling enough-

_(-of a reason?)_

_(...Of an excuse?)_

-to give him pause.

With his friends-the feeling of their reciprocation made his chestplate hum with warmth, filled him with serenity.

It...was different with Miu.

There was _nothing_ serene about the complicated,  _terrifying_  sensation that overpowered him when he looked at her, thought about her, listened to her-

_-felthertouchheardhervoiceheardhergaspheardhersighheardherfeltherwatchedher01001001 00100000 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010-_

"Lemme guess: thinking about Miu?"

Kiibo was too stupefied to even hide behind his collar as he gaped at Kokichi, who wore a huge grin without any shame at all.

"...H-How do you  _do_  that-?" Kiibo asked, not without a touch of awe.

"At least you don't deny it. Those kind of lies wouldn't suit you anyways." Kokichi let the remark hang mysteriously for a beat before adding, "But you give me too much credit. It's honestly written all over your face and it doesn't take an expert like me to tell. Not when you're standing there like you blue-screened and powered down like a hunk of hot garbage!"

Kiibo sighed, almost entirely at a loss for words.

"...I seriously doubt the exact nature of how I feel is as simple to convey with only the appearance of my face."

"Oh, of course it isn't," Kokichi conceded without hesitation, in cheerful counterpoint to the sudden dark and sour tone that followed, "-because  _love_  is different to everyone who experiences it, right?"

Kiibo clenched his jaw completely shut.

There was nothing he could say to that.

"Anyway, Miu beat  _everyone_  to the elevator and didn't wait at all, so let's go with the others so we don't have to wait for a third ride."

The elevator ride was silent aside from Himiko's sobs. No one said a word. When it stopped, everyone disembarked and went their separate ways. Some lingered outside the dormitories, others sat under the wisterias.

Under different circumstances, they could have appeared to be normal students, simply leaving a class.

Miu was nowhere to be seen. He regretted not being quick enough to walk her back to wherever she'd gone.

Partway between the stairs out of the courtyard and the dorms, Kiibo remembered something.

"Ah, how is your injury faring? Has the pain subsided a little at least?"

"Much better! Now I only  _occasionally_  feel like I'm going to faint."

"Wh-What?!" Kokichi only laughed mirthfully at Kiibo's horrified expression.

"C'mon Kii-boy, that's a lie." Kokichi leaned over the railing overlooking the courtyard and brought a finger to his lips. "Hey, is that Miu? She's not half-naked this time so I can't tell."

True enough, it was her, coming out of her lab to grab something from a heap of half-finished inventions before ducking back inside the door with it.

"...Yes, that's her." Kiibo answered, even knowing the rhetoric nature of the question. He stared after her, knowing she didn't intend to leave her lab for the night, knowing she'd pass out in an ungodly contortion of a position, instead of heading to bed properly-

-Perhaps 'ungodly' wasn't the correct phrasing after Angie's murder, and least of all to a woman of science like Miu.

Everything was so painfully fleeting. The idea of protecting his friends, protecting Miu, with such a simple solution was humiliatingly naïve in hindsight. Faith needed pure and unopposed support to succeed, and, unbidden, he remembered Kokichi's words to Kaede just days before.

_"You're strong-arming us."_

He'd neglected her for his newfound duties among the student council. He'd contributed to a divide amongst the dwindling few that remained, and she'd been on the other side of it.

If...something had- _happened_ -

-to her-

He'd pushed her away.

He'd gotten _lucky_ , even though the word felt cancerous and sickening to even consider in the context of the day's events.

But there was no other way to transcribe his overwhelming relief that Korekiyo had overlooked what Kiibo could see so clearly in Miu.

As he and Kokichi stared over the railing in mutual silence, the guilt piled higher and higher, heavier and heavier on his heart.

Maybe she wouldn't have gotten so attached to that computer they'd found if he'd only paid closer attention to her, had he not allowed his commitments to the many overshadow the personal one he felt with her.

Never before had he thought he'd need to consider that maybe he couldn't... _afford_  to look out for everyone in equal measure anymore.

Especially not when his well-meaning intentions in approaching the situation had resulted in essentially sabotaging their comfort, abandoned her in the midst of something so brutal and dangerous and lonely-

Really, it was only because of Kokichi's accident that their gap in communication had been bridged. Before that, she'd still acknowledged him, but it had been accompanied by a certain self-consciousness and hesitation that made his chestplate hurt to think about in retrospect.

Miu emerged from her lab once more, a scowl twisting her mouth into a slew of profanity as she unceremoniously kicked a hunk of scrap across the lawn, pausing only to futilely wipe the back of her hand at a smear of pitch decorating her cheek before going back inside and slamming the door.

"She's not heading to bed? I know Miu is...well,  _Miu_ , but she can't possibly be horny enough to rub one out after losing three people in one day-"

"No. Miu does not like to be asleep. Times like now, least of all."

Kokichi's expression flattened as he digested the information.

"I'm heading back."

"Ah-" Kiibo stammered as Kokichi turned abruptly on his heel and started walking, hands resting behind his head, "-What about your injury? Would you like to come with-?"

"Sorry, but nope!" Kokichi replied cheerfully, in a voice that did not sound even marginally apologetic. "Even if I didn't have some stuff to do first anyway, you've gotta solve this one on your own, no matter how awkward you made it when you utterly  _ditched_  her for that hippy-dippy kumbaya student council bible study!...Oh, don't look so pathetic," Kokichi huffed, "It'll go fine... _probably_."

He shot a smirk over his shoulder, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"-That's how love is  _supposed_  to work, right?"

This time, Kiibo senses no secondary meaning to the question.

...

As Kiibo knocked on the door, there was an immediate commotion from the other side, a familiar grumble of disappointment that carried into its owner's expression as she opened the door.

A flicker of irritation proceeded the completely disarmed expression that appeared in its place when she realized it was him.

"O-Oh. It's you." Miu fiddled with a lock of her hair, nudging the gravel at the door of her lab with the toe of her boot. "Why...? You, uhm...do you want something from me?"

"...No. I don't have any sort of reason like that."

"Th-Then-! Don't interrupt me-!" Miu scowled, appearing genuinely dejected as she moved to retreat back into her lab.

_-THUD-_

"What are you-?!"

"-I'm so sorry, Miu."

His voice came out muffled as he dropped to his hands and knees, forehead touching the ground: in his memory banks, he found no gesture more accurate to his feelings in the present moment than what the traditional custom of dogeza conveyed.

Complete and utter remorse, the willingness to relinquish everything to her mercy to rectify his transgressions towards the cherished relationship they shared.

"K-Kiibo-!" Her voice sounded panicked, and when he looked up, her knees had locked together, quaking, her eyes welling up with tears, "C-Cut it out! If you-if you look up at me like that-I'll go crazier than I went when I couldn't see you all this week!"

"It is of utmost importance that I apologize, even if it means disobeying you."

"Then just, get up, and say it to my face! U-Usually I'd be into this kind of shit but I like to think we're on a little more familiar fuckin' terms than that, e-even if you were the latest in the string of people that abandoned me, for that kooky bobblehead bitch no less!"

He got up, moved by the desperation in the abrasively candid outburst. He heard it, the velvet beneath the steel, even if it'd been frayed and worn thin with neglect, and his chestplate  _ached_  with the heat of her words echoing inside.

String of  _people_ -

-and himself among them, in her eyes.

What could he even say? Where could he even begin to fix this?

What could he do to justify the faith she'd had in him, the faith that meant she considered him as much a person as she was, when he'd returned the favor by damaging her in such a way?

Miu's eyes were raw and pinkened around the edges where she'd rubbed too hard. Her shoulders shook with every word that left her quivering lips.

"Y-You know, I...I'm not even fuckin' sad she's dead-" Her eyes were unfocused, but Kiibo could tell she meant every word, "-for tricking you with that  _Atua_  horse shit-and  _using_  you like that-" Miu's mouth slanted into a scowl of fury, but the rest of her face was just lost. "I hate this place-so  _fucking_  much-I hate wondering who will be next, or if I'll lose someone just as soon as I-I start to give a shit about them-" Miu rambled, not even bothering to wipe her tears away anymore, "-When you...stopped coming around I tried to get into that computer, I tried to make some more stuff to help me forget how much I fucking missed you, and, it just wasn't the same-! I never felt more excited than when you let me...augment you, or o-open you up for the first time, or when we, uhm-"

The swift coloration of her cheeks filled in the gaps precisely.

"...When we...used them to-" He experienced sudden, great difficulty with his voice modulator, his internal speaker crackling as he tried to find the words, "- _unite_  for the first time." Kiibo finished for her, his blush matching hers as he recalled each and every detail.

_...I couldn't stop thinking about it either._

It'd only been a few days, but...

The way they spoke of it now made it feel like it was an eternity ago. He could sense the augmentations she'd given him responding to the subject of their conversation, her bashful look, the sight of her reddening, soft bottom lip under her teeth, the idea of doing it with her again.

She really  _was_  a genius. Anyone could make an attachment, and put it from slot A to B. But she'd considered it part of his living physiology, and had perservered until it could respond correctly to touch, the input of audio and visual stimuli, even his thoughts.

"Y-Yeah..." The word wobbled over her tongue, sounding heavier than four letters ever should. "And then, she-she put that curfew out and-I couldn't just stay with the computer at night anymore, so I-I had nothing at all to come back to at night besides my own empty head. I couldn't think of anything besides you while I was like that and-there was no way I could fucking sleep when I was too scared that I'd never wake up, or  _you'd_  never wake up, if anyone who saw how-how kind and gentle and honest you were and thought you'd be an easy target or something-"

Kiibo grimaced, knowing that in all fairness he shouldn't be pleased that he would occupy her thoughts to that extent, not when their contents had tormented her and troubled her so deeply.

He reached for her hand, and her gloved fingers fit so perfectly in his that had he not known better, Kiibo might have thought his had been built simply for this purpose.

As if the weight of his hand in hers was all it took to topple her, she staggered forward with a broken sob and threw her arms around his shoulders, burying her face against the side of his neck to cry.

The  _sound_  of it-

He couldn't cry, but the sound alone was so painful that his internal audio equalizer had dropped its sensitivity in reflex, having registered the plummet in synthetic dopamine as too critical for ease of function. He overrode it manually and listened to every heartbroken sob, taking it a step further and committing them to his permanent memory.

Anything it took to never forget what he'd done to her. He didn't want to function comfortably if it meant that her cries for help and comfort would go unheard for what they were.

Especially not when she'd made the choice, despite everything, to share that part of herself with him again.

"Miu..." He wrapped his arms around her waist, lending support to her unstable form. With a relieved moan she leaned completely into his embrace until they sank to the floor, his body pinned under hers against the nitrile PVC mats lining her lab-

He could feel  _everything_.

"-A- _Aaah_ -" Kiibo groaned under the familiar pressure of her body, and she responded with one of her own almost immediately, spreading her legs open around his hips, letting the humidity of her skin fog the chrome plating of his chassis.

"I've been-s-s-so empty without you, Kiibo..." Her voice was still shaking badly, but the frustration he sensed was now anticipatory in nature as opposed to the terror that had clouded it before. He was very, very familiar with this particular timbre of her voice, and his body was out of places to conduit the heat emanating from everywhere she touched-

"...so, so,  _fucking, empty_ -"

A roll of her hips, desperate and slow, punctuated every word.

"L-Likewise-" Kiibo rasped, dizzy from the power usage spike resulting from his fans automating to their highest settings, cooling the heat between them into a vapor that obscured his vision and condensed on her soft skin like perspiration, "-though in your case...I am assuming you harbor more- _aah_ -literal connotations-" He could hardly think straight as she pressed the valley of her thighs along one of his, a ragged huff of breath escaping her lips to bathe his ear-

"-I wanna do it, K-Kiibo-" Miu whimpered, "-I don't, want to-to be  _empty_  anymore, I wanna do it with you, again-and  _again_ -j-just like before-" Her legs squeezed tightly around his thigh, her hand dragging down over his chestplate, fingers tracing every groove and crevice until she could linger over the safety on his waist where his interchangeable parts hid his more sensitive-natured augmentations, "- _please...?_ -"

Miu's voice trailed quieter with each breath, and she slouched until her cheek was flush against his chest. Her heartbeat throbbed into his gut from where the shape of her breasts molded against his abdomen.

_...134 BPM. Significantly higher than a healthy resting heart rate for women in Miu's physiological demographic. Increased stress and lack of sleep triggering a higher output to operate normally are the most likely factors._

She _had_ mentioned being unable to sleep for the past few nights. How literal had she been in saying so?

She was unwell, exhausted, and emotionally vulnerable. Under the current circumstances, there were serious moral and ethical deterrents to fulfilling her request, no matter how direly his body ached for the same thing, but how could he possibly explain it to her and deny her her one wish after she'd bared her heart to him, after all he owed her-?

She'd been silent for a long time, he realized, and as he tilted his chin down to peer into her face, he found that somewhere between her going still and his thoughts racing she had closed her eyes and her breathing had evened out. Anchoring one arm at the bell of her hips, he shifted his other hand free to slide his fingertips against the pulse in her neck, intent on monitoring her for anomalies. Her chin ceded to his touch and lifted, baring her throat, her voice creaking into a near-soundless groan of someone resisting sleep with all their might. Stunned momentarily at the sight of her appearing so peaceful, his gaze drifted from where her eyelashes rest against the soft, puffy dark shadows beneath to the wisps of stray blonde hair framing her cheeks, noting how their ends tickled the hollows of her throat, before it finally came to linger at the sight of her lips parting as she swallowed. The humidity of her breath over his chin must have broken something inside of him: the pink of her mouth suddenly seemed as though it were the only color in the room.

She nuzzled the warmth emanating from his chestplate and appeared to fully relax her body. He monitored her breathing and her heartbeats diligently, noting how bringing his other hand up to stroke her hair seemed to steadily lull her vitals back to normal.

Kiibo only required charging once a week, and did not experience sleep in the sense a human like Miu would. It had been only a few days since his last charge, so he resolved to watch over her.

After all, the doors to her lab did not lock.

Perhaps that was as intentional in its design as Angie's lab had been, even if her desire for companionship left her vulnerable that way.

She really had so much she wanted to share with others, if only someone would come in to see her for who she truly was, in a place where her confidence was not a fabrication to protect herself.

Kiibo held her, and waited until morning.

...

It took Miu a while to realize she'd woken up.

It was nothing like how she usually greeted the morning: she felt warm and comfortable, and hadn't dreamed a single thing at all. No sleep paralysis that left her in a cold sweat, shaking and crying out to an empty room before forcing herself up to suck down some thin coffee, ignore the twisting sensation in her stomach.

"Ahh, good morning, Miu..."

_Kiibo? That's right, he came by to check on me last night-_

It was coming back to her now, the events of the day before. Two murders. Kokichi's injury. Kiibo coming in to reconcile the distance that had formed between them-

_...And then I fell asleep before actually getting any fucking action? For fuck's sakes, how'd I sleep so well without even taking a ride-?!_

_But..._

_...Maybe...I was just that relieved to see him again._

"Miu, I need to get up."

"Mmh, already?" Miu purred, sitting up to gaze down lovingly into his bewildered expression, "Maybe I can...help you out?"

Kiibo blinked owlishly and nodded.

"Getting off would help me get up quickly enough. Thank you, Miu..."

Miu froze, her mouth a startled ' _oh_ ' as she struggled to process what he'd just instructed her to do with such a casual, steady voice.

"W-Well...if that's what you wanna see..."

She couldn't even look him in the eyes as she whimpered, hands shaking, bunching up the fabric of her skirt in one while the other slid along her stomach and stretched open the lace band of her underwear until she could  _reach_ -

"M-Miu?! S-Stop, what are you-?!"

"Hwwwahhh?!" She wailed pitifully and snapped her arms up at her sides, panting heavily, "Y-You're gonna ask me to get m-myself off right on top of you and-and then make me stop before I can even s-start?! Wh-What kind of next-level d-denial kink are you i-into?!"

"N-No! That's not what I meant! I simply wanted to take you to the dining hall for breakfast! Y-Yesterday went so quickly and your circadian rhythms have been irregular as it is, and your resting heart rate was abnormally high..."

He'd been monitoring her so closely?

The thought sobered her libido just enough to leave her in a quiet daze. The swing in her mood must have registered on her face because he sat up to shift her aside manually, bringing a hand to her forehead. It was only then did she register how  _weak_  she felt.

"I...need to speak more carefully around you. No, not only that, but I must ensure that individuals with impure intentions cannot take advantage of you, inadvertently or otherwise-" He touched her pulse as he continued talking, mostly to himself, and the contact made her flinch reflexively, "-your heart rate has spiked again. If it were up to me, another hour of sleep would have been ideal, at least enough to complete an entire REM cycle-though I suppose it's to be expected when you fell asleep so early in comparison to what is usual to you. Six hours is an improvement on your usual schedule, though. But you need proper nutrition to offset the energy you've been expending, so I absolutely, must insist that you eat a complete breakfast."

_Ah...this scolding tone of Kiibo's..._

_...warms me up._

It was painfully sweet how he felt there was any innocence in her left to protect. It almost made her wonder if there was any truth to the idea.

A lazy smile spread over Miu's face, her voice coming out like molten honey.

"...Even if you have to force every bite down my throat...?"

"I would hope you'd behave a little better than that at the table, but-if you left me no other option, then yes, even if." Kiibo stared hard at her, concentrating.

"...And we'd best get going quickly, because your pulse is more erratic than before now."

...

'Forcing every bite down her throat' did not, as it turned out, have nearly as exciting implications as Miu had originally imagined, nor belied any sort of lewd euphemisms.

What it  _did_  mean was Kiibo actively campaigning for her to finish her oatmeal before it got cold, sternly urging her not to spit it into a napkin or spoon it out onto the plate beneath the bowl while she thought he wasn't watching.

Honestly, even though he was worried for her health, Kiibo couldn't help but yield an exasperated smile at her antics.

"Miu, it'd be much easier to finish eating now than to stall until the others wake up. I don't intend to relent even if others need to watch me scold you to do it."

"Mooorning sleepyheads!"

As if on cue, Kokichi crawled out from underneath the dining hall table, beaming his usual smile. A grape-patterned bandage was plastered carelessly to his forehead.

"K-Kokichi!? How long were you here-?" Kiibo sputtered.

"Nee-heehee~...I figured you two would be up the earliest after all your make-up sex last night, so I came and hid! Aww, but...Miu spoiled it with all her squirming!" A cheshire grin split his face almost in half, "I had to come out because all I could smell was Miu's  _soaking wet panties_ riding up into her pussy from being ordered around by her mild-mannered robot  _fuckbuddy_."

Miu's face burned red, her mouth wobbling as she struggled to counter the many accusations he'd dropped the moment he opened his mouth, but all that came out was one word.

"F-Fuck-?!"

"- _buddy_?!" Kiibo exclaimed, his plating beginning to overheat with a spectrum of emotions.

"Oh, sorry. So you guys  _are_  lovers, huh?" Kokichi corrected himself cheerfully. Neither of them confirmed nor denied it. "Anyway, Miu's being a bad girl and not finishing her widdle bowl of oatmeal, right? Do we need to play 'here comes the airplane' with her?"

Miu slammed her hands onto the table and stood up out of her seat, her dishes clattering as she did, cheeks still bright from his previous verbal onslaught.

"H-Hey, fuck you, what do you care?! Y-You hide under the fuckin' table to watch my panties and then you think you can treat me like a fuckin' kid-"

"Don't stand up so fast, you'll give yourself a black eye! 'Fuck' this, 'fuck' that. Is that all you know how to say? Is it all you know how to  _do_?" Kokichi deadpanned before shooting her an intense glare. "Sit down, cumslut.  _Now_."

With a submissive squeak and every ounce of fight draining instantly from her expression, Miu wilted back into her seat.

"As a matter of fact, you made it my business to care when the two of you patched me up. Even if you  _did_  forget to stitch me back together. So, if you're going to jeopardize your health so foolishly, I won't stand for the hypocrisy. Someone's got to take responsibility for you since you can't even feed yourself anything besides someone's _cock_."

Kiibo flushed, perpetually unable to understand how Kokichi could say those sorts of things with so unaffectedly innocent of an expression. He sent a winsome, boyish smile Kiibo's way and winked.

"Because, you know. Miu's used to guzzling cum, not oatmeal! You can't expect her to know how to do more than one kind of thing. We have to show her on a level she understands." Kokichi spoke not only as though she weren't there, but as though she couldn't even comprehend him.

"B-But I know how to...I mean, I can...I can finish it..." Miu whimpered, her confidence blown to pieces, but there was a spark of something, that tell-and-do attitude of hers bubbling to the surface with the intent of proving herself.

"Then pick up your bowl like a big girl, tip your head back, and don't stop for air until you've swallowed every last drop. Understand?"

"Y-Y-Yes, sir!" Miu began doing exactly as instructed, gulping it down steadily.

"I-Is that safe-?!" Kiibo exclaimed, to which Kokichi just laughed.

"Kii-boy, you're such a softy. Even someone as pathetic as Miu has you wrapped around her little finger so tightly that you think this is too much for her? Come on. Sometimes you just need to take a firm hand with things like this."

As much as Kiibo was reluctant to acknowledge Kokichi's methods...

Miu slammed her bowl down with a drawn-out gasp.

"A-All done!"

"...You managed to get her to eat more in ten seconds than I could in ten minutes." Kiibo admitted with faint recognition. He  _was_  relieved: was this what they called the 'end justifying the means'? Still, Kokichi's grin worried him.

"Oh? You're done?" Kokichi tilted his head at Miu's hesitant nod. "That's funny. I don't remember _saying_ you were done. You're not making things up again, are you Miu? You're not  _lying_ , are you Miu?" The stare he gave her could've cut glass.

"N-No! I'm s-sorry!" She wriggled like a goldfish dumped out of its bowl, but looked up at Kokichi from under her lashes eagerly enough.

"Then..." Kokichi lifted her bowl and revealed the hidden mush smeared onto her plate, "...I know you know how to use your tongue. Lick it up."

Miu breathed an unmistakably fond sigh as she dipped her head down, roving her tongue over the plate at his behest. Kiibo felt he was watching something intimate in nature, but couldn't bring himself to look away, until he realized Kokichi had been smirking his way. Miu finished and looked up expectantly. Silently. Kokichi pretended to survey her plate critically before pinching her cheek.

"Good!" Kokichi brightened up instantly, leaving the two of them to duck into the kitchen, emerging with a banana he'd snapped from its bunch, peeling it until the skin hung around his hand. "...But oatmeal isn't enough for a recovering person. Or a recovering  _piggy_  like you. You'll have to try a little bit harder, okay? You really wanna impress us, right? Open wide~."

Again, Miu whimpered and did exactly as she was told, and Kiibo watched, his circuitry heating well beyond safe level of function as Kokichi slid it in past her open lips, along her tongue-

"...Hey Miu, what are you doing? What kind of game are you playing? Did you forget how to chew? I know it's a lot to remember, but you have to close your mouth. And then open it again. Though I get it, you hardly ever close it so it might be too much to ask of you. Or could it be..." Kokichi jerked the banana back and out of her mouth before she could follow his instructions, eyes sparkling playfully, "...that you just wanted to show us how far we can put things down your throat?"

A bullseye, if Miu's quivering lips and teary eyes were any indication.

"... _Dirty_  girl." Kokichi flicked her between the eyes and she wailed, almost in tears, but Kiibo could tell the quickening rate of her breathing was more due to an endorphin rush than any actual distress. "Alright. Enough playing with your food, eat your fruit so you can sew my head closed properly."

There was no teasing, underlying nature to his instructions. The game was over, and it was made very clear that Miu was expected to eat every bite.

Kiibo couldn't help harboring a feeling of appreciation for Kokichi's methods, if only in this situation.

...

Much to Kiibo's surprise, Kokichi was complicit with Miu's instructions, laying perfectly still on the bench where Kiibo usually lay for maintenance, even as she swore while rustling through the plastic kit at her side and threading needles for his stitches. With his eyes closed, an uncharacteristically innocent peacefulness smoothed the edges of his sharp, jaded smirk, the catty smile that often played over his eyes.

It was Miu's lab. It would make sense, then, for her bench to occasionally be occupied in some capacity at times, even when it wasn't himself in that position, and yet-

A twinge of envy coursed through him, watching Miu lean over, close, to Kokichi, inspecting him so carefully, her eyes bright with clarity and focus.

However, perhaps it wasn't so bad after all. The novelty of watching her work from a new angle entirely was something he could appreciate, and the jealous edge to his thoughts faded as he watched her work. With small surgical scissors, Miu cut cleanly through the grape bandage, removing the pieces with tweezers so as not to peel or disturb the wound further.

"Hey, Kink-ichi! You still with us? It's weird when you're quiet."

"Are you gonna worry every time I close my eyes just cause of my little prank yesterday?"

"It's fuckin'  _possible_ , you insufferable little shit."

Kokichi went stone-faced, but whether it was because of her comment or from the way she was now looming overhead with her curved needle, Kiibo couldn't tell.

"Kii-boy, hold my hand, I'm too scared to open my eyes!"

Ignoring the reprise of the unsought nickname, Kiibo surrounded Kokichi's fingers with his own.

"Kokichi...are you afraid of needles?"

"Are you afraid of Miu?"

"What-?! Why-all of a sudden-? What does that have to do with anything?"

Kokichi shrugged and relaxed his forehead as Miu applied numbing gel to the area around his wound.

"What does my being afraid of needles have to do with anything? If it's something you're forced to endure, what does it matter how you feel, right? That sort of thinking..." Kokichi's hand squeezed around Kiibo's as Miu dipped the needle beneath his skin, unusually quiet as she focused, "...just gets in the way."

"...You're all done." Miu declared, as she taped a rectangle of gauze in place to protect the stitches. "I think I liked it better when you kept your mouth shut after all."

Kokichi clutched dramatically at his chest, twisting like her words had struck him with the force of an unseen bullet. "Ah, you wound me. Why so blue, Miu?"

"Wouldn't you love to know? Now get the fuck up and get out of Kiibo's spot so I can get on with his upgrade!"

Kiibo still hadn't stopped pondering Kokichi's words from just before Miu finished treating him, but the sudden declaration from Miu snapped him instantly out of his reverie.

_Kiibo's spot._

Those words together alone filled his body with a warmth he could only compare-

-to the sensation of feeling Miu's body right against him.

"A-Aaah-"

Their eyes were instantly upon him at the sudden sound escaping him and his face heated from the attention.

"I-I'm sorry!" Kiibo stammered, "I w-wasn't aware you'd been planning an upgrade and I think I-inhaled some particulate matter in my surprise-"

It wasn't a  _total_  lie.

But enough of one for Kokichi's eyes to sparkle with impending mischief.

"Wow, Kii-boy. I would've thought Miu would've taken care of all your build-up when you visited her last night!...Unless she was too preoccupied humping your leg like a bitch in heat 'cause she missed you so much."

Even though Kiibo refused to validate the technical accuracy of his inference, he could tell from the look on Kokichi's face that his confirmation wasn't necessary-

-and Miu's petulant whimper only nailed it home.

Kokichi swung his legs over the side of the bench to step down, tugging Kiibo around to sit in his place in one smooth motion.

"Miu, he's really heating up. You must've left him  _aching_  last night." Kokichi placed his hands on Kiibo's shoulders and slowly pushed him until he was fully reclined as he himself had been moments before, "He can't do this sort of thing himself, you know?"

"K-Kokichi..." Kiibo's voice crackled in its speaker: Kokichi's hands were still touching him, having slid down to his chestplate. A playful smile lit his face up all the way to his eyes, genuine and wholesome, completely enraptured with the sound he'd made.

It unsettled him to admit, but Kiibo found the attention... _flattering_.

_Miu's looking too...I...can't take this..._

Kokichi took his hands off Kiibo's chest and looked boredly into his palms, all pretense of amusement wiped away in an instant.

"...Ew, he's a little  _too_  grimy. Like an impure _bitchlet_ was sweating all over him."

Perhaps it was Kiibo's racing state of mind, but he couldn't help but notice more often when Kokichi's words were at their sharpest, when they seemed to hit some hidden, otherwise inaccessible piece of Miu that she tried to keep suppressed. He couldn't help but notice how she squirmed like she wanted nothing more than to surrender to it, like she  _wanted_  to melt under the pressure he put on her constantly, like it was only pride that kept her from being vulnerable in the first place. Kokichi tore down her wall, fast and messy, unlike any other person. He wasn't concerned with protecting her feelings: he wanted to peel them back and drag them out, touch her where it was raw until she cried or screamed or gave any sort of boundary whatsoever. He targeted her because there were no limits to the absurdity he could inflict upon her.

He couldn't help but notice how he himself was now complicit in facilitating these fantasies, of Miu's, of Kokichi's, and of his own.

Perhaps it was naïve to feel that he was not simply a tool to Kokichi in that regard. Kiibo could sense the relish in his being when he tormented Miu-but he also couldn't write off Kokichi's attitude towards himself as simply as a child using a toy for a means to an end, for satisfaction received elsewhere through garnering envy.

It was a completely different game with himself: Kiibo had given him nothing  _but_ boundaries, and so it fancied his curiosity to experiment and find exactly which buttons he could press.

And somewhere along the line, Miu happened to become one of those buttons.

Was Kokichi using Miu? Or Kiibo?

Maybe it was never a question of  _or_  in the first place.

"Well, fuck-" Bright spots of red colored the height of Miu's cheeks as she unwrapped a sparkle sheet, "-are you just gonna sit there and watch? Y-You get some kinda voyeuristic hard-on for this kinda thing?"

"Are you asking if I want to help?" Kokichi's voice was completely even and serious.

"I-I'm asking if you wanna  _fuck off_ , obviously-!" In complete opposition to Kokichi, Miu's words grew louder with agitation, even if her blush grew in much the same way.

"Ohhh, I get it. It's just like  _Angie_ , then-" Kiibo saw Miu's entire frame stiffen with revulsion, suddenly furious behind the eyes, "-you can't actually get anything done if someone's watching you. And Kii-boy here doesn't exactly count as a  _person_ , so that's why you-"

Miu slammed a stool beside hers at the work bench, teeth grit, all but spitting her words as her practiced fingers carefully plugged Kiibo into her laptop from a port on his neck, eyes following a splash of code as she set his body to relax for maintenance mode.

"-Sh-Shut the fuck up. Just sit down and keep your hands off anything dangerous and-and don't bother me! And I don't care what you say about me or how many names you call me, but Kiibo's a far cry from a piece of junk s-so...don't talk bad about him!"

" _You_  said he didn't count as a person during the trial yesterday; don't tell me you forgot?" Kokichi's lips curled into a teasing smirk, eyes bright. "Did the outright  _orgasm_  you had over me calling you a  _filthy cum dumpster_ scramble that sad excuse of a brain and wipe your mind so completely...?"

"I-I didn't mean it how you think-!" Miu gulped audibly, suddenly breathing so much harder than before, her legs shifting together in a way that made her garters clink and the leather strain, drawing Kiibo's eye in spite of his every effort to be respectful.

(-The way they squeezed around her thighs looked like how another part of him  _felt_  while looking at her-)

(-thinking how it would be to watch it slip between that soft skin from above her, her legs tensed and shaking over his shoulders instead of the usual position in which Miu made sure they found themselves-)

(-to commit her every vocalization, facial expression, movement, and reaction to his memory-)

"Miu said that because she believed in my innocence. She..." Kiibo felt both their eyes on him and hesitated, looking away, "...doesn't see me as an object."

Kokichi smiled, wide and cheshire, between the two of them.

"...So you say. And what about you?" Kokichi walked to Miu's side of the bench, pressing down hard on her shoulders from behind while she was lost in thought so that she'd sit down on her stool in front of him. Instantly, Kiibo felt a wave of concern overtake him in a rush, making his entire body hum. His motor functions weren't fully functional in maintenance mode, to prevent unexpected movement or injury to anyone working on him. Miu didn't usually put him in this mode in spite of such, but Kokichi had flustered her, and he could tell she had been trying to distract herself in her frustration.

He couldn't stop Kokichi, and if his thin smirk was any indication, his worry for Miu was written all over his face.

"Do you feel something...unpleasant inside of you when I touch her like this...?"

 _Envy_  filled the dead weight in Kiibo's limbs as Kokichi draped his arms tightly around Miu's shoulders and collarbone from behind, sank against her back, closed his eyes, and buried his nose into her hair, inhaling deeply. His eyes shone at Kiibo as he parted his lips against her ear, even as he didn't speak to her, even as her breath caught in her throat and her eyes flew wide open-

"...Or is it turning you on as much as it does for her? Seeing your personal  _wrench wench_ get hot and bothered from a few, simple words...? You want to see that honest side of her more, yes?"

It took every ounce of willpower to not give him the answer that immediately nested itself in his mouth, poised and so, so ready to agree.

"...Miu said-not to touch her-" Kiibo reminded him quietly, his chestplate agonizingly hot. What was  _wrong_  with him? Reacting such a way from watching Kokichi incite such responses from her-

"You're forgetful today too-she said nothing of the sort. Shall I remind you? She just said not to touch anything 'dangerous'...and not to 'bother' her." He flashed a winsome smile once more, sliding a hand up the front of her throat to cup beneath her chin, holding her head upright and steady against his chest. "Does she... _look_  dangerous?" Miu's eyes were swimming with complete delirium, rolling upward as his other hand casually massaged a shoulder.

In the next moment, he let go of her chin to shove her harshly from behind her shoulders, sending her reeling forward and holding her in place by the back of her neck as she caught herself suspended over Kiibo, one hand beside his head, her other hand hot against his chest, their faces inches apart.

In a quieter voice than before, Kokichi hummed out:

"Does she look  _bothered_?...Hey, this is a good chance for you. Look at her face. Every single part of it."

And oh, did he.

Backed by the fluorescent pink and blue lighting of her lab, the shape of Miu's face wreathed by her downy, strawberry blonde tresses was, in a word,  _stunning_. He couldn't move as errant locks tickled his cheeks, as her hooded eyes locked onto his mouth, hers hanging open slightly as a certain agony and longing crept over every part of her expression. He saw his own bewildered face reflected in her eyes, felt his chest burn at the knowledge that they were looking so deeply at only one another, that doing this much could put such a look into Miu's eyes like she was going out of her mind.

He wonders if she can feel the weight of his stare trailing down to her lips, if she would ever answer the question he's never asked aloud and teach him just how hers would fit with his if they closed the space between them.

"Hey Miu, you like Kiibo, right?"

Miu's mouth and eyes opened ever wider, but she did not answer.

"You just don't know how to react to someone who legitimately wants to be with you-" Kokichi pulled her hair as casually as though he were guiding a dog on its leash, sitting her down and relaxing his fingers to toy with her hair, dipping down to speak into her ear directly.

"-someone who  _isn't_  some creep old enough to be your dad. Someone who doesn't want to just use you and leave you like an  _empty whore_ after."

The moment the word 'empty' left his slanted lips, Kiibo felt a flash of recollection from the previous night's events.

(Miu crying into his shoulder, her stubborn will momentarily broken.)

(The painful intimacy of it all as she confessed her hardships, the loss of his companionship chief amongst them-)

("...so, so,  _fucking, empty_ -", her words haunting his consciousness as he heard them again in his head.)

Kokichi straightened up, giving her room to breathe. "So you hide how you really feel because you have no idea what to do with how you feel for him honestly, right? It just torments you, right? Slutting it up was your way of protecting yourself, but it's become the wall that keeps you from thinking you're worthy of someone like him. You can't even fathom the idea that someone could reciprocate your feelings when they come from someone as  _used_  and weak and fragile as you."

His scathing words left her trembling with their poison as her mouth gaped open.

"How about it, Miu?" Kokichi trailed a finger beneath her chin, balancing her entire, crumbling demeanor on the tip of his finger as he nudged her slackened jaw back into place, "Am I close...?" His voice dropped softer, saccharine in texture, and for a moment, Kiibo heard something genuine and sympathetic within, a question without its usual malignant edge. "Hey, answer me~" When Miu didn't reply, Kokichi's voice brightened as he tugged her chin to face him-

-and her teeth gnashed as she tried to bite at his finger with a flash of indignation, growling as he giggled and snatched his hand away just in time.

"Nee-heehee, someone's  _feisty_...!" He cupped her face and plumped her cheeks in his palms, diving forward to nip her on the nose in return.

"G-Gyaaahh-!" Miu squealed out, her aggression dissolving and her eyes squeezing shut with shock. Kiibo's eyes trained themselves immediately on the wobbly, whimpering line of her mouth. He tried not to think about how she might sound if she were kissed there instead. He tried not to think of how her lips might part and hum contentedly under the pressure, malleable and faultlessly yielding-

(-but he did-)

(And honestly, he wasn't sure he could  _stop_.)

(Not now, maybe not ever again.)

"First you refuse to eat, then you go for anything anyone puts in front of you, huh? You really are troublesome, y'know?" He smoothed his fingers through her hair, twirling a strand as he spoke. "When's the last time Kii-boy gave you a good lay? Or maybe you just ride one out on him when the stress is too much to handle...?"

"Sh-Shut up-! I-I wouldn't expect you to u-understand-" Miu dragged her cleaning tools out from under the bench and started clearing dust from the tracks in Kiibo's chassis. It didn't tickle as strongly as other times she'd performed maintenance: plugged in as he was, he could detect when and where she was touching him, but with far less palpable sensitivity.

"Why, yes, Miu!...That would be why I'm asking. Did you let some guy's  _cum_  dry in your ears or are you just that dense? Kiibs has things he wants too! Hey by the way, you'd know- _do_  robots have dicks, or do you just dry-hump his crotch and make-believe?"

Kiibo felt his face heat at the imagery bombarding his senses. "K-Kokichi, even if you are asking in jest, you needn't act as though I'm not listening!"

"Ohhh, so you  _are_ awake! You'd gone quiet so long that I thought you'd powered down or whatever robots do. That's naughty, Kiibo! Waiting idly by and watching me tease your precious Miu for so long. Are  _you_  the one with the voyeurism kink? Or..." Kokichi's voice dropped, gravelly and purposeful, his smile carving his face from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling mischievously as he laid a finger on his lips, "...maybe it's true that she does all that, and she's too insecure to let you see her the way she always gets to see you? So, you're just drinking it in while you can, since I can wring every drop of it out of this selfish cumrag-" Miu moaned aloud under the verbal onslaught, burying her face in her hands, "-case and point. Besides, who says I'm  _not_  being serious? I'm just asking her because you ignore me when I ask you!"

"F-For your  _information_ -" Miu put her hands on her hips and scowled over her opposite shoulder, avoiding eye contact with either of them, "-it's state of the art!"

"Does it vibrate?" Kokichi's eyes lit up, asking before Kiibo could have a chance to beg them to end the line of questioning.

"What? No! It's part of his body. Does  _your_ dick vibrate, you little shrimp?"

"Just when I'm about to cum!" Kokichi answered, readily and cheerfully, "...Down the throat of a cock-starved slut like you. Hey, before you start squealing like a nasty sow again-" He bumped shoulders with her as she whimpered, sitting down beside her, "-tell me how in the world it works! Can he feel anything? Does anything...come out-?"

Miu opened her mouth, glanced at Kiibo, and closed it again.

"Um...Is it...okay if I explain...?"

"Aww, what's this? Got her on such a short leash that she needs your permission to explain her own creation, even though she's dying to talk about it? I didn't take you for the type, Kii-boy."

The insinuation that Kiibo would casually manipulate Miu in such a way pushed him to his limit in a way no amount of teasing directed solely at him had done before.

"...You do Miu a disservice by implying that her passions can be so easily contained, or that she couldn't have been asking to be considerate. For the record, I'll state from here on out that Miu can do or say whatever she pleases with regards to me or my functionality. I trust her with my life, because of, not in spite of, her eccentricities."

"K-Kiibo..."

Kokichi gagged loudly.

Miu looked like she were about ready to burst into tears, a crooked grin tilting at her lips as she squirmed with delight.

"Y-You guys are driving me nuts-! H-H-How am I supposed to handle being p-passed back and forth like this...?" Miu squeaked out, twirling a strand of hair around her finger several times as perspiration beaded at her neckline.

"And here I thought Kii-boy was the only one capable of overheating. You don't seem to mind us teaming up on you though." His dimples crowned his positively sinful smile as he leaned over to blow air by Miu's ear, laughing as she almost fell off her stool. "But now that you have consent, I want my questions answered!"

"H-Huh?! Oh-yeah-" Miu hesitated briefly as she began to explain, "I built it to resemble a human's as closely as possible! There are certain endorphins that are released upon, heh,  _release_ , so I had to figure out what Kiibo's equivalent was and wire this baby to release those same equivalent electrical impulses-"

_Listening to Miu throw herself completely into her explanation..._

"-I engineered a compound that acts as a synthetic substitute for a guy's nasty stuff and  _then_  made sure the cells responded to Kiibo's natural brain waves and thoughts, so that with neural stimulation it can split and essentially self-produce. As you can imagine it's a really sensitive setup, so it took a lot of testing to make sure I could get everything right-"

_...she's so eager that her energy seems to light up everything around her._

"-I didn't wanna make him literally ready to explode if I made the compound too sensitive, but I also didn't want it going stagnant inside of him. And, I had to make sure it reacts realistically and feels a need for the release, so the casing around the unit is meant to swell and expand from the pressure of it building up, which leans on other receptors I installed to make sure the signal is felt in both heads instead of one!"

_I...want..._

-"It isn't painful, exactly, but it becomes incredibly distracting if left alone. Kiibo's AI doesn't have any pre-existing algorithms in place for determining arousal, which is probably for the best, considering it'd be pretty strange to create something as close to human as possible and then load it with your personal kinks, but the coding for _developing_ those sorts of feelings was there in the first place, so the things Kiibo's mind responds to with regards to distinguishing arousal from general pleasure are the same things that will trigger the augmentation I made for him! And they're all connected and linked with interests and reactions that he's developed on his own."

_I want to keep this side of Miu safe. I want to see her enjoy explaining her inventions, for her to see the effect she has on others._

Kokichi had listened, quiet and intent, to her entire explanation without interruption, and Miu's small, proud smile told Kiibo that it had come as a surprise to her as well. He looked at her and shared a smile of his own; not that he was able to do much else when he was still stuck in maintenance mode, but at the very least if he hadn't already thanked her a thousand times over, he wanted her to  _know_ -

_I think you're absolutely incredible, Miu Iruma._

"You made the way he envisions his body should be as close to reality as someone possibly could." Kokichi hummed, "No wonder he's absolutely head over heels for you."

"H-Huhhhiieee?!" Miu stammered, suddenly blushing far more intensely than before, "B-But this is nothing for the gorgeous girl genius and her golden brain! He just-happens to be really convenient to work on, and, and the only one who can keep my brain interested!"

Kiibo's chestplate ached with warmth when Miu's appreciative, dextrous fingers traced the grooves of his chassis, falling back into the rhythm of continuing his maintenance. He closed his eyes, content, if still a little embarrassed from her detailed description, and felt her palm upon his cheek-

_...Wait, Miu-_

_-wears gloves, so-_

Kiibo opened his eyes, and came face to face with Kokichi peering down at him. The hand on his cheek was quickly recontextualized as belonging to Kokichi; as was the thumb tracing over the synthetic skin of his lips.

"Your brain, huh?" Kokichi baited her, sharing a mutual look with Kiibo in the understanding that Miu was too focused elsewhere to notice what Kokichi was doing. Putting a finger to both Kiibo's lips and his own, he continued, speaking while looking directly into his eyes.

"What about your heart?"

"My...uh...wh-what...?"

"...Is your heart just as interested as your brain? In Kiibo."

_Kokichi...is getting really close._

_...Why am I suddenly so nervous?_

Kiibo's internal speaker crackled with static feedback as Kokichi passed his finger over Kiibo's mouth, his thumb plying slowly at his bottom lip. He dipped closer, violet irises staring right down into his eyes. The smile was gone, and after another moment the eye contact was gone too, Kokichi's lashes lowering and casting that intense violet in an almost seductive light.

"K-Kokichi, what...are you doing-?"

The smile returned, playful and tilted.

"Isn't it obvious?" The rasp of his voice finally caught Miu's attention, and her jaw dropped as she beheld the two of them, "-I'm seeing if Miu is going to try to protect Kiibo's  _first kiss_."

"H-Hhhhhiiiieee?! W-Wait, w-waiiit!"

"Answer the question, Miu. If your heart is interested in Kiibo, maybe I don't have to be the one to take all the responsibility and teach him about love!...Although...the more I look at him..." Kokichi leaned so close that Kiibo could feel the warmth of his breath over his chin, "...the more tempted I feel. But maybe that's because Kiibo's looking more and more like he  _wants_  me to. How about it? Shall I kiss you?"

Kiibo wanted desperately to move, to do something, anything, even if he wasn't sure what, even if his inner voice was drowning out all rationality and logic and deadening his inclination to think about it more.

The uproar inside of him begging to let himself be kissed was deafening.

Kokichi moved closer until their noses touched, the contact sending Kiibo's fans whirring at their highest speed-

-and then he backed away, grinning with just a hint of flush across his cheeks.

"Nee-heehee...did I getcha? Sorry, but that would've been too easy and no fun at all! Taking a cheap shot while someone can't even move is just the  _worst_. Ah, but you look a little disappointed. And honestly, so does Miu; we must've looked pretty good together like that, huh?"

"I-I wasn't  _looking_ -"

"Oh Miu, Miu...those lies are so unbecoming of you. You haven't even bothered to get Kiibo here out of maintenance mode. If you weren't interested in what was happening, why not save him and be done with it? And furthermore, if you weren't interested in what I was doing with you, you'd have done that from the start. Isn't that a law of robotics? If he thought you could come to harm because of me, he couldn't have helped himself. But you knew all about that. That's why you let me. You're interested in  _both_  of us." Kokichi stared her right in the eyes, with an intensity that almost made her  _weep_. " _Greedy_  girl. But...I'm greedy too, y'know? And we all have something in common."

"B-Bullshit, th-there's n-n-nothing like that-"

"'Maintenance'...that's your lie, isn't it?" Kokichi cut her off sharply, and she swallowed her words. "Kiibo is state of the art, anyone can see that. You just relish any excuse to press all over him with that lewd body of yours. And Kiibo, precious lamb-you know just as well as her that she doesn't need to fuss so much, but you crave her attention so sincerely that you're willing to be a little bit insincere. But...cheer up! It's like I said, there's something we all share."

"And...that would be?" Kiibo knew it was bait.

He took it anyway.

"That we're all liars. But...some of us are just more honest about it than others. That being said..." Kokichi's finger balanced itself against his lips, an eager twist to his mouth, "...Why don't us liars do something honest for once in our lives...and get to know each other  _a lot more_."

"You're...not saying we should..." Kiibo stammered, but he knew Kokichi was being serious.

All of the teasing, the pointed remarks and observations made so far, they had been very purposefully culminating into this one suggestion.

"A-A-All...three of us-?!" Miu likewise caught the brevity of the implication, and she froze on the spot.

"Mmhm. You, me, and Kiibo. It doesn't take a genius to see our chemistry. You and Kiibo are already desperately in love with one another, but you're so painfully insecure. I'll give you that degradation you're craving, so you can accept Kii-boy's boyfriend treatment without giving up who you are. He'll find his own way of showing you his feelings, you'll get a good lay out of it, and...it'll amuse me. Everyone wins, right?"

"You're being...suspiciously vague." Kiibo pointed out.

"Would you like it if I were very, very specific?"

Before Kiibo could get a word out, Miu doubled over suddenly in her stool with a whimper like she'd been  _struck_ , her fingers digging into her knees as she laid her forehead on the workbench beside Kiibo with a groan. Kokichi giggled, and walked his fingers up the arch of her back through her shirt, humming with appreciation as his antics only encouraged a very distraught Miu to deepen the curve of her spine with an unmistakable moan of pleasure.

Kiibo had never been able to watch her make such intimate expressions before, and he could not help but be transfixed.

_She...really wants this._

_But...I can't let him do this here, in the place she safeguards her confidence. Still, it should be somewhere she could feel safe..._

"...Before we continue, I suggest-my room." At both of their stunned expressions, Kiibo steeled his resolve. "There's more space and nothing of value that could be damaged. It seems the...most logical choice."

Kokichi drew his hand back from Miu's shuddering body.

"Then I'll go on ahead and wait. I still remember how to pick the lock after the last time I went in, after all. But I'm impressed, Kii-boy! It's really helpful that you volunteered your room: makes it so much easier for what I have in mind-but, I won't spoil it. Anyways...you just worry about getting Miu to me in one piece, alright? Poor thing probably can't walk straight without help, and we can't have her falling apart on us-at least, not until we're good and ready to  _let_  her." Kokichi flashed a brilliant smile on his way out the door. "Don't keep me waiting!"

When he disappeared, Miu quietly disconnected Kiibo from maintenance mode, and he'd scarcely got himself off the workbench when Miu hung close to him, wrapping her arms around one of his and staring at the ground.

"A-Ah...Miu-"

"When...when we do it...j-j-just..." Miu squeezed closer, "...t-take care of me, okay?"

"A-Are you sure that you still-"

"L-Let's just go, it's the waiting that's psyching me out, and-as long as I'm with you I know-you'll look out for me."

She tugged insistently and Kiibo knew her mind was made up.

Miu didn't trust often, but when she did, it was unwavering.

And he would not accept something so precious from her without giving something of equal value in return.

...

The whole walk felt somehow...illicit in nature, even though it was to Kiibo's own room.

It didn't help that it was nearing the time for the morning announcement, and the chance of running into someone on the way was significantly higher. And he wasn't sure Miu could bring herself to let go of him in the state she was in now. It would surely cause trouble for her if she was seen looking so meek.

He just had to get her to his room, where she'd be safe.

But with every step, he questioned how safe she would truly be.

He didn't want her to feel obliged or coerced in any way. Kokichi had known exactly how to look at her, speak to her, and touch her, and Miu was completely receptive to it.

She was counting on him to protect her. It was up to him that everything that happened beyond the door they stood before was something she undoubtedly wanted and consented to, pure of whatever powerful, intoxicating influence Kokichi might try to hold over her.

They went inside to where Kokichi was waiting, sitting on the edge of Kiibo's bed, feet swinging casually. Kiibo closed the door and considered leaving it unlocked, wondering whether Miu might feel trapped if he locked it. He considered the alternative. Someone could walk in and Miu would be even more compromised.

He locked the door, silently affirming to himself that he wouldn't let things escalate to the point where Miu would feel uncomfortable enough to be afraid.

"Wow, Miu, you're so quiet. That's not a bad look for you. But...if you keep holding onto him like that, he's not going to be able to do anything. And this time, you're not calling the shots. It's one-sided if you only fuck him on your own terms. Kiibo wants to make love to you and you're just using him for his body-and as if that weren't enough, you even went through all the trouble of making him feel just how bad he wants to. How cruel. Have you just been ignoring him, since he's kind enough to keep quiet about it, or are you actually that dense-?"

"Don't." Kiibo interjected, "I never intended to put pressure on Miu. I deeply cherish all the time we've spent together and I do not require-that is-I would never say that I am unfulfilled-"

Kokichi crossed his legs and propped a hand under his chin.

"Exactly. You would  _never say it_." Kokichi's smile sliced as thin and deep as a paper cut, the words stinging beneath the surface. "And I know the idea of sharing must be agony, but this is for Miu, so you can't be selfish either! She wants to accept your feelings too, so let her work hard."

He stood up off the edge of the bed, sidled up besides Kiibo, and rest both of his hands on one shoulder, leaning up to purr into his ear. The sensation of Kokichi's small, lithe body against his arm made his face heat under his collar.

"I'll fuck her, and you'll make love to her."

The gravity of the situation hit Kiibo all at once. This was all already happening. He was supposed to keep Miu safe, and instead his own feelings were making it progressively difficult to think rationally. The curiosity inside of him regarding not only his feelings for Miu, but for Kokichi as well were reaching their zenith and the realization dawned on him-

_Kokichi...makes me feel complicated too. Maybe not in exactly the same way as Miu, but there are similarities between how both of them make me feel._

_But I need to protect her-_

"Miu, you don't have to do anything that you don't want to do-"

"...No, I'm...sorry." Miu folded her arms, her eyebrows scrunching like they always did when she was thinking especially seriously. "He's...right. And I do...want to do it. He's a little impossible,  _fuckin' shit_ , but he's also an impossible, fuckin'...sort of...having a good point...shit."

Kokichi laughed, resting his cheek on Kiibo's shoulder, grinning up at the both of them endearingly.

"Wow, how many brain cells did that sentence cost you? Now you're actually managing to be more honest. I'm proud of you!"

His cheer sparked an immediate blush in Miu's cheeks. "Y-You better be, 'cause I'm not sayin' it again! It's..." She twirled her hair and bit her lip. Kiibo could tell that her frustration was genuine.

"Miu, it's hard for you too, right? You like being praised. You want to be treated like a princess, but you lack the discipline to command any respect. You're lucky it comes so naturally to Kii-boy. Someone needs to reign you in a bit. And if Kii-boy is too much of a soft touch, then you're my responsibility now too, if that's what it'll take to make you play fair. It's been a long time coming, you know?" Kokichi giggled darkly and came around to stand between them, his hand caressing the small of Miu's back.

"-and I'm used to being the bad guy anyway."

He grabbed her hips and jerked her around to face him, leaned close to her face, grinning from ear to ear at the frantic look overtaking her features-

-and shoved her, hard, towards the bed. Miu fell unceremoniously across it with a moan, swallowing audibly as she looked up at the both of them, the curves of her body straining against her clothing as she twisted to keep her watery gaze on them.

Kiibo felt something ache to life at the display, in tandem with the warmth growing in his chestplate-

"Aaa-aahhhhh-"

"Is that vulnerable look of Miu's getting you excited, Kii-boy?" Kokichi goaded him with the smile that told him he already knew the answer, and Kiibo couldn't bear the precision with which he aimed his accusations. "Let's make a game of it, okay?" Kokichi walked around the bed to the other side closest to Miu's head, grabbing her shoulders and dragging her upright against his chest.

"Kiibo will be your pure knight." Kokichi leaned close to her ear and continued the explanation, unfettered by her bewilderment. "I'll be the lecherous villain. And you'll take what you're given- _princess_."

"Hhhhhhhhiiiiieee-!?" Miu yelped as his thin, cold fingers disappeared under the fabric of her uniform, pulling it to a slouch around her shoulders. Her harness limited how far down it could go, but perhaps it was the sense of desperation caused by such restrictive clothing that left even less to the imagination as she squirmed to get comfortable against Kokichi.

_I...don't know what to do-_

Kiibo saw the skin of her thighs as her legs kicked, the movement of her throat as she swallowed, and the disheveled strands of blonde hair sticking to her lips as she panted, just from being touched, and felt utterly, hopelessly lost.

His eyes followed Kokichi's hand as it trailed the valley of her shirt, toying across the collar of her uniform, lazily plying open the bow like a cat would play with string.

"Do your best, okay? Accept all our love as best you can. Work hard, Miu!"

She nodded, vigorously and deliriously, eyes wet as her lips parted in a croak-

"K _-Kiibo_..." Miu pleaded, and he felt his cock twitch from behind the safeguard at his groin at just the tone of her voice forming his name like that alone, "...c-come on, h-hurry-"

"Aww, Miu, we've just started and you're making demands already? Did you forget? Kiibo is choosing his pace today." Kokichi nuzzled his cheek against hers and batted his lashes at Kiibo from over her shoulder. It would never stop coming as a shock to Kiibo just how innocent of a face Kokichi could make at such a time. "Buuut...maybe I'll have my way until he can work up the nerve? What do you think of that? After all, it wouldn't do if he just stuck it in and  _broke_  you before we could have any real fun. I'm a villain with standards, after all. Cheap and quick entertainment is no fun, so I'll make sure you're ready to spend a long,  _long_  time satisfying us both, _princess_ ~."

His free hand snuck out from around her waist, giving her thigh a generous grope forward towards her knee before dipping back the way it came, on the inside this time, slipping beneath her skirt-

"Hhhhaaaaaah-! F- _Fuck_ -" Miu whimpered loudly as he did something unseen between her legs.

Whatever it was, she was rolling towards it, her expression so sincerely pained at being toyed with that Kiibo couldn't ignore it.

"M-Miu-!" Kokichi laughed mirthfully at Kiibo's panicked expression.

"...As expected, she doesn't need too much...encouragement. She's been ready for a while, right Miu? Since breakfast, I'd say. Actually, a lot longer than that..." Kokichi drawled casually as Miu all but melted under his touch, drawing his hand out from under her skirt, spreading his fingers to show Kiibo exactly what he'd meant-

Right then, his inner voice vanished. It felt as though a part of him had simply...disappeared, muted itself into inactivity, leaving him alone with the thoughts stirred inside him from seeing undeniable proof of Miu's arousal, stretched and shining between Kokichi's fingers.

As if in slow motion, Kiibo watched Miu lift a shaking hand to clasp Kokichi's, urging it back to where it'd been before.

"...But what about you, Kiibo? Maybe you need coaching a little more than this  _petulant_  little sex kitten here." He closed his teeth around the shell of her ear, hard and sudden, lacing his fingers through hers as she tried to pull his hand back under her skirt. Miu squeaked, mouth wobbling into a wide-open sob of unabashed delight as his tongue flattened against the side of her throat, dragging up and back along her jawline as hooded eyes watched her reaction. She shuddered, whimpering listlessly as he guided their hands beneath her pleated skirt, nudging her fingertips into place for her and moving their hands together in slow circles. Kokichi took his hand from hers, and Miu's didn't stop.

"See? She doesn't need  _my_  help." Kokichi chuckled as Miu whined under her breath, "...That's a lie. Even if she can barely help herself...just look how much fun she's having-" He dragged his hand against the folds of her skirt, holding it up over the waistband of her black, silk underwear. The scene framed between her legs was forever imprinted in Kiibo's memory. Her fingers fumbled along the dampening groove at the center of her panties, each stroke thinning her already ragged breath.

"-She's already sacrificed enough of that useless pride to show you this much of her honest side already." Kokichi purred against her ear, "But...it looks like it's not quite enough to convince Kiibo to come give you any relief. That's too bad for you, because I'm not going to keep you going all on my own...oh! I wonder if he wants to make you beg for it? I bet that's it, I bet he's waiting for you to be as desperate as possible, so he can-"

Kiibo didn't hear another word. He moved forward, climbing atop the bed between Miu's sprawled legs, his hands planted against the bed on either side of her hips. His head tilted to place a chaste, lingering kiss at the crown of her cheek.

"Miu..." Kiibo stayed close to her, looked into her striking blue eyes as she whimpered curiously, her lashes dark with an up-from-under look that made him feel like something would  _break_ inside of him, "...I'll...take care of you." The way her shoulders relaxed and her hand went limp and still between her legs-she was so trusting of him. He needed to fulfill that trust of hers, and-be honest with his intentions-

"-I want to see more of you, Miu. I want...to make you feel good, and I want to...watch you, in your entirety- _a_ - _ah, Miu_ , you're-" Her legs wrapped around him, drawing him closer to her body and reducing him to a stuttering mess.

"Nee-heehee, can you blame her?...You're so  _vanilla_ , Kiibo." Kokichi took hold of Miu's wrists, cheerfully swapping them into one hand and pinning them to the bed above her head, leaving Kiibo free to maneuver. Her clothes were in complete disarray: her skirt had hiked well above her hips, her shirt hung open around her breasts, and her socks were slouching down her legs as she squirmed. Unfazed by Kokichi's remark, he closed the distance between them once more, hovering by her lips as if to beg permission before tentatively pressing his to hers. The light in her blown pupils as she kissed him back with fervor, her soft curves pressing so urgently against him sent his heart  _soaring_.

He could only describe the sensation as perfect. With each repositioning to deepen the kiss, the vibrations of Miu's moans echoed through him and made his entire system hum to life. Her lashes fluttered at half-mast, and when he gave her room to breathe her lips were glossy and wet, pink as her cheeks.

"...So pretty..." Kiibo mumbled against her lips without thinking.

"E-Eh-?" Miu squeaked, her eyes wide. Her breaths became deeper, her chest swelling into the warmth of his with each inhale, and he'd never felt so close to another human being before in his life.

He couldn't even bring himself to be embarrassed as he closed the distance between them again, intent on committing the shape and texture of her lips to his memory. It was everything he'd wondered it could be like and more and as she kissed back it only drew him deeper in.

As the kiss slowed, he could feel Kokichi's gaze boring into him, and looked up to see an odd, crooked smile on his lips.

"...I didn't know robots could kiss so deeply. Do you have a working tongue then?"

"W-Well-" Kiibo was too flustered by the seemingly genuine interest and attention to point out the robophobic nature of the remark, "-it 'works' in the sense of producing a substance similar to saliva and maintaining mobility, even if I can't taste anything. Those features were considered necessary additions to make me capable of producing the entire range of human consonants and vowels, and thus create natural speech."

"...That sounds pretty fetishy, but okay.  _Sure_." Kokichi smirked as Miu whined from beneath them, "Speaking of, I get the feeling our spoiled princess is getting a little impatient with us!" Kokichi leaned forward into Kiibo's personal space. "Shall we...give her something nice to look at? You know, since you still haven't managed to whip out your robot dick yet."

"Wh-What are you-?!"

"I'm talking about a kiss!" Kokichi pouted dramatically, "Why can't I have one? I know I'm not your little cumslut like Miu, but...you like me a little too, right? Ah, I knew it was pointless to ask, you'd never work up the nerve-"

Kiibo had done it to shut him up. That had been the rationale when he unthinkingly moved forward, meeting Kokichi's lips with his own. The mischief bubbling up into his eyes and the readiness with which he kissed Kiibo back, prodding his tongue through his lips to press their tongues together told him he hadn't been taken by surprise.

Not in the _least_.

Even with one hand occupied pinning Miu's arms down, it was clear Kokichi was the one in control of the kiss. With his free hand, he pulled at the back of Kiibo's head, slanting his mouth hungrily against his and taking no mind in Kiibo's inexperience.

It was the complete opposite of the kiss he'd shared with Miu, but he found he didn't appreciate the sensation any less.

He couldn't help but give in when faced with Kokichi's assault, letting out a loud, long moan. Kokichi drew back, his tongue hanging out like he'd been short of breath, but Kiibo knew from how he'd kissed him that it was just for show.

" _Hhhaaaah~,_ mmh-" Kokichi let the evidence of their kiss drip down from their lips over Miu's cleavage, "-not bad! Not as good as me, but better than Miu. Probably. Oh, what's this? Did you actually  _touch_  yourself watching us kiss? I  _thought_  I felt your hand wriggling away..."

Kiibo's gaze dropped in time to see Miu snatch her purloined hand away from between her legs, the guilt written plainly on her face not unlike how a child would react to being scolded for sneaking sweets before dinner.

"Hhhiiiiieee! I-I-y-y-you were-" Miu panted, eyes darted between them both before settling on Kiibo's, "-F-Fuck, you sounded-so  _fucking_  good-! What was I supposed to-Aaah-?!"

It was then that Kiibo realized that at some point during all of this, the praise he was receiving from the both of them was being processed through more than one place in his body.

Did Miu really wrest her hand away from Kokichi's because she was overcome while watching them-

-hearing him?

Had Kokichi not really intended to let her slip away? Or-

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice Kokichi's hand slide off from around his neck. Kokichi leaned down to look into her face, his expression stony, stopping her mid-sentence with a squeeze of his hand around her jaw.

"What a loose, dirty little sow you are. You can't even understand something as basic as waiting for instructions, you filthy cum dumpster?" Miu's eyes were wide, dewy with a combination of dread and elation. "Don't think I didn't see your hopeful expression, either. You're hoping I'll actually be desperate enough to kiss your gutter mouth, too? That's not gonna come cheap. From here on I don't want an ounce of hesitation or disobedience, or you won't even get to cum. Open your mouth. That shouldn't be hard for you, you never  _fucking_  close it-"

The words were scarcely out when she obeyed, eyes pleading where her lips were silent: it was clear she knew he wouldn't renege on his threat, and was desperately seeking his favor with renewed vigor.

Kokichi leaned close, spitting spitefully into her open mouth. Miu gasped and shivered as it slid down her tongue, yelped as he slapped her cheek, short and sharp.

"If you  _really_  want a kiss so badly, you'll have to settle for licking your lips."

Miu's eyes watered, and for a moment Kiibo worried that it was too far over the line even for her; he couldn't tell whether she loved it or hated it, but the stubborn will he so admired in her emerged to shatter all doubts. She roved her tongue in a broad circle across the surface of both of her lips, letting Kokichi's spit stretch and cling between them in an ultimate display of subservience.

"... _God_ , you're one sick puppy, Miu-you're actually into this as much as I am! But I want to have lots more fun with you before I start doing anything else for you. I'm sure Kiibo can help you with that if you beg loud enough-"

"No, that-will not be necessary-"

"Kii-boy, are you doing this on purpose? She  _wants_  to beg for you! Right, Miu?" As if bespelled, Miu nodded frantically, and it all connected.

_...Kokichi must have let her get a hand free because he'd known he'd have an excuse to punish her so severely. And Miu...knew as much, and was looking to provide that excuse._

"I'll let you beg all you want, but no hands! Show him that honest, subdued look of yours some more, okay?"

Miu wailed with humiliation, her cheeks burning as her unfocused eyes settled just below Kiibo's waist, her mouth opening and closing soundlessly. He knew, logically, that he could not perceive something like someone's stare as though it bore tangible weight, but his body responded as though he could, and with a strained groan, he slid a hand down to the release for his aching cock.

...Or, the 'Erectus Ejectus', as Miu had so affectionately named it, but now was neither the time nor the place to think about anything else besides how...exposed he suddenly felt, as the plating moved out of place, revealing just how overwhelming all the stimuli from their foray as a group had been affecting him.

He'd honestly waited a little too long to show them-the casing was swelling towards the limit already, and it was almost painful at this point, but the idea of showing Miu and Kokichi at the same time-

His face was already overheating dangerously. Kokichi's mouth twisted into his widest smirk yet, and Miu looked at him with such anticipation that she was actually holding stock-still. He wrapped a shaking hand around himself, his internal fans rattling at the speed they'd adjusted to.

"Miu, I..." He gave himself a tentative stroke, nearly doubling over with the effort to hold on, "...want to,  _unite_  with you, s-so b-badly that it h-hurts-" The backlights of his eyes dimmed automatically in his body's effort to save power somewhere. He inched closer between her legs, his free hand caressing the slope of her hip, fingers anchoring into her flesh. "...Please-I want...to hear you-I  _need_  to hear you-" He rest the weight of his cock against the waistband of her panties, the tip already leaking synthetic cum onto her stomach. Her body was so... _soft_ -

Kokichi ghosted the back of his fingers down her cheek, drawing her out of her stupor as she nuzzled blindly towards his hand.

"...Hey, you're so  _quiet_." His sardonic tone once more revealed that he was not in the least bit surprised. "...Open your legs nice and wide for him, Miu-" Kokichi's voice dropped to a purr, "-and use that sexy voice of yours properly to tell him where you want it, like a  _good, little, slut_ -"

With shaking knees, Miu obeyed the first instruction, the soaked fabric of her panties clutching to her core and setting every detail of her anatomy on display for him. Her chin dipped towards her chest with a shaky inhale that could have just as well been a  _sob_  before she raised her eyes to his, her mouth quivering around her words.

"-K-Kiibo, I-" Miu squirmed, rolling her hips towards his touch, "-w-wanna feel you do it inside me-"

_Even when asking for such a thing-_

"-in my  _f-fucking cunt_..."

_-and when she's so humiliated, frustrated to tears like this-_

"...until y-you feel-t-t-too good to stop- _a-aahn_ -" Her breathing hitched with anticipation as he rubbed himself with his hand, spreading the pre-cum over his length in rhythm with her voice as he watched her struggling to speak.

_-she's giving her all to be honest, to show me that innocence of hers even when she's cornered in such a way._

"... _p-please_...?"

"M-Miu..." He choked, running a thumb from one corner of her panties down and inside towards the apex, dragging it aside. She was completely soaked with arousal, a tender pink color as he eased the tip against her and gently, gently pushed forward-

Her back arched, she threw her head back with a sob of pleasure, and her body enveloped him completely like wet silk.

_I've...never seen her in such a state before._

He waited to move, honestly afraid he'd hurt her or push himself to the brink too quickly unless he was careful: he wanted to make her feel good, more than anything, wanted to see how pretty her eyes got when she was close, wanted to put a picture to the sensation of her coming for him,  _with_  him-

_Miu...I think you really have broken me, somehow._

"If you're planning to expose a liar, then you have to corner them psychologically..." Kokichi's voice had never felt so far away, even when he'd leaned so close again to Kiibo's face as he stayed frozen above Miu, "...You remember that, right...? Her body is  _completely incapable_ of lying to you-" A thin smirk, almost laced with something resembling pity, "-it never  _was_ , but now, least of all, yeah? You got it all the way in her like it was  _nothing_. And if she can't hide her body's reactions...the rest will follow. Her voice, her words, even her mind-everything inhibiting her will  _crumble_. But then...maybe that's too difficult for Miu."

Kiibo was curious as to what he could mean, but didn't interrupt-wasn't capable of doing so if he felt so inclined, anyways-as Kokichi slipped his fingers under her gloves and slid the cracked leather from her hands until he could poke and squeeze at her palms. Miu's voice wavered with a shaky inhale.

"Wh...What are y-you...?"

"Your hands are actually pretty soft-no callouses at all." He traced the edge of his middle fingers from the bottom of her palms to the tips of her own, giggling as her fingers flinched and curled away from the light touch.

"- _Sensitive_ , too, huh?" Kokichi huffed softly with affectionate disbelief. "Geez. Only you would have a pleasure spot as  _ridiculous_ as this..."

Miu squirmed as Kokichi flattened his palms into hers, toyed with her fingers, squeezed and stroked along her knuckles with idle curiosity. Her movement referred through her hips, tearing a gasp from Kiibo as she sank towards him, her body trembling around his cock. With his hands sloping down the curves of her waist to try to keep her from doing anything too sudden, he found it impossible to keep from meeting her movements with his own, and moved his hips.

His cock pumped forward slowly into her, and then back. Again, and again, each time just as slow and careful as the last.

"A-Ah-! F- _Fuck_ , K-Kiibo-" Miu was shaking from head to toe as he kept going, biting her lip like she was trying as hard as she could to hold herself still and keep herself together, "- _shit_ , fuck-"

Her voice tugged his hips into hers with slightly more force than he'd intended, and hearing the ensuing wet sound of his body joining hers was singlehandedly the most erotic thing he'd ever heard in the world.

Miu cried out so loudly that Kiibo half-worried someone would walk by and think she was being murdered; or that she'd wake the entire dorm singlehandedly.

"C-Come  _on_  already-" Miu moaned with a truly pitiable expression, "-I, I can't take it if y...you do it so slow like that-!" As she tried to hold still, her eyes went glassy with an almost fearful, deer-in-headlights expression.

There was no doubt in his mind she found the sensation pleasurable, but-

_It's almost as though she can't truly relax. There's...some sort of barrier in her mind that's still resisting. Would it even be moral to push things if that's how she feels? Even if Miu's responses to stimuli are atypical and unorthodox as compared to an average individual, and she's interested in pain and abuse and degradation to such an extent-I can't-_

An apology died on his lips as Kokichi leaned over without any warning whatsoever and spat on her cheek. Miu squealed with fright and moaned, low and lurid in her throat, as he smeared it down and over her mouth with his palm, prising his first and middle fingers into her mouth.

"Hey, you're embarrassing me, y'know? How many times have I told you now that you can't give Kii-boy trouble for his pace? You get your way literally every other time, can you really not just  _shut_ the  _fuck_  up and take it like a good girl? At least pretend to try-you don't want me to get  _bored_  having to explain the same things over and over, do you?"

"Hwaah-!? Mmh-mmh..." Miu blinked up at him, shaking her head, her cheeks shallowing to show her dimples as she sucked and licked at his fingers. With the hand not occupied by Miu's mouth, Kokichi worked down the zipper on the front of his pants, hissing as he shoved his underwear out of the way and eased his cock out, then pulled one of Miu's hands up so he could curl her fingers around the length of it, pumping her hand back and forth.

"You're really frustrating, Miu-" Kokichi chastised her. His voice was even as ever, but Kiibo did notice that his breath was shortening: he was completely hard in Miu's hand, and her fingers idled slowly around his shaft as she turned her head to peek. She sucked in a breath and whimpered, turning wide doe-eyes up at Kokichi with his fingers still stroking the inside of her mouth. "-but at least this helpless look doesn't look too bad on you. I'm surprised a girl like you can look like this."

"... _M-Mmhh_..."

A fragile moan fluttered free from her lips as her eyes went half-mast, and Kiibo felt Miu's body responding to the praise where her voice could not, squeezing around his cock like a pulse. The only thing that gave him any relief was moving his hips as before, feeling the pressure ease marginally as pale fluid seeped out into her.

Kokichi's words echoed inside of him as he watched Miu. Her hips locked up as he moved and she shifted around the weight of his cock inside her. The sight of her body and her expressions together as she shone with perspiration and trembled with response to every little thing was something he knew he'd never forget. Kokichi withdrew his fingers from her lips, meeting her eyes with an expectant look. A flustered, distracted blush painted her cheeks as she struggled to catch her breath.

"But even if you are just the  _littlest_  bit cute right now, you're still holding back, huh? Could it be that without all that foul language of yours to hide behind, you're even more subby than usual?" Kokichi thrust a thumb into the corner of her mouth and tugged her cheek. "You really ran your big mouth when I was injured before, but the situation's different now, isn't it?" Kokichi dropped his voice to a whisper, "Wasn't it so intimate, seeing me when you thought I'd died? I saw how much it affected you. You're so  _gross_ , Miu. So curious about anything so long as it pushes your emotions to the extreme. But even though Kiibo is working as hard as he is and going nuts edging himself so he doesn't _blow it_ inside you, you're still struggling to meet him halfway and just enjoy it for what it is."

He cupped a hand under the back of her neck and tugged her towards him, leaving her head draped over the edge of the bed between his legs. Miu arched her neck into his touch with an agreeable whimper.

Even with Kiibo's limited practical knowledge of intercourse, he could inference Kokichi's intentions, positioning her head in such a way. The mental image it conjured-the idea of both him and Kokichi inside of Miu at the same time-

He'd experienced...jealousy before, but this wasn't quite the same. There was a sense of guilt brewing inside of him from the idea that Miu was likely to be exhausted from something as physical as taking the both of them at once. It wasn't that he didn't want to see Miu doing something so profane, either, nor was it that he'd rather it was him in Kokichi's place.

Perhaps he was jealous not because of what Kokichi was doing, but of Kokichi himself, out of envy for his confidence. When he watched him push Miu around, he felt-so  _confused_ -

Kiibo was certain he'd only managed to rationalize his excitement at seeing him do so out of empathy for Miu, from knowing how much she craved his brand of treatment.

It wasn't that he was worried Miu wouldn't need him: he trusted in her affection for him, and knew that there were things only he could do for her too, and words she could only confide in him.

In retrospect, Kokichi had figured this all out way before they'd set foot into this room. It truly was uncanny how quickly he could read people.

"Is it really still too difficult for you, even though I set this up for everyone? Poor baby...thinking so hard and getting nowhere. You're so frustrating I don't even know what to do with myself-shall I help you relax? I'll use your mouth once you ask nicely-" Kokichi slid his hand up from the back of her neck, twisting his fingers into her hair and pulling down, exaggerating the angle of her exposed throat even more than before as he breathed out with an anticipatory whisper-

"-and we'll show Kiibo how much better your throat looks when it's all filled up with my cock." Kokichi brought both hands down to cup her cheeks, circling his thumbs over her sleek cheekbones with an unusually subdued smile. "I'm going to help that mind of yours go completely blank."

"Y- _Yeah_ -oh, god,  _please_ -" Miu begged as his thumb prodded down on her bottom lip, her eyes brimming with renewed courage, "-shove all your f-frustration down my _fucking_ throat- _mmmhphffth_ -"

Kokichi groaned as he sank his cock into her mouth, stalling purposefully as his thumbs traced down to the hollows of her throat and anchored themselves under her chin, tipping it back and pressing forward until she gagged around him with a wet, desperate gargle. Hot tears pricked the corners of her eyes instantly, casting her irises in a dewy glow of welling, overflowing emotions.

_...Beautiful-_

"-While Kiibo  _rails you senseless_ into the mattress?" Kiibo did not miss the effect the words had on her: it was completely impossible to, with the way her entrance clutched around him and her back arched with such enthusiasm-

"Ghhh-! M- _Miu_ -" Kiibo croaked out, trying with everything he had to not just do as Kokichi had suggested-

_...Were you always making such a face, when we did this together? I'll see it again, right? Please, Miu..._

Kokichi's hands closed over Miu's, he guided them to the crest of Kiibo's hips and lower back, and  _pulled_ , and all of Kiibo's efforts not to move went completely out the window, as all four of their hands began tugging and rocking his hips forward at his ministrations. He left Miu's hands where he'd placed them and eased back enough to pull himself out of her mouth with a distinct, wet  _pop_  of his cock coming out of her, strands of pre-cum already stretching and streaking over her lips, which she paid no mind to as she wailed with each of Kiibo's thrusts.

_...I don't want you to hide those eyes from me anymore._

"How's he doing, Miu? I think he's a biiit nervous, so maybe _a rousing_ speech from the princess to her knight might be just what he needs."

" _Nnnhhhgh_ -! Fuckin'...shit! Guh-god da- _aahh_ - _mmmnn_  it-fuck fuck  _fuck fuck_ -!" Her eyes squeezed closed and she threw her head back, her body clenching up as her mouth hung open in a soundless scream, "Oh,  _fuck, Kiibo_ -j- _just_  like that I fuckin' need it-please don't stop please  _please p-please_ -" Her begging was breathless and unashamed and her knees went bow-legged as she tried to edge closer, but Kiibo could tell that her muscles were aching with how dramatically her body had tensed up and that every word and movement was a struggle.

Her body was completely enraptured in inexorable delight. Her toes were curled, her lip was raw under her teeth, and errant tears streaked her cheeks as she trembled beneath him. There had to be something  _wrong_  with him, to watch her yell and scream and cry and beg in the throes of agony (of ecstasy?) and to...so thoroughly enjoy every moment-

-of the complete and utter debauchery they were participating in together.

"M-Miu, I'm going to-a- _aah_ , s-something's-" Kiibo warned, already keening as he felt a spurt of something warm shoot out into her. The relief, minimal as it was with the context of how much more  _full_  he felt made his entire system quake with the desire to let everything out, to see it flowing out of Miu and around him, to watch her spent and exhausted, if only he could hold on just a _little_ more for her-

Kokichi's breath shuddered ever-so-slightly as he prodded the oozing tip of his cock against her rosy, warm cheeks, coating them with slick. He slid himself between her parted lips from beside her head with a subdued moan, dipping into her throat once more before tilting the head of his shaft into the pocket of her cheek. He turned his hooded gaze to Kiibo and licked his lips, snaking an arm around his hip and dragging him close for another hungry kiss, at once pulling him deeper into Miu. He spread his fingers at the small of Kiibo's back and helped him keep the motion going, unbidden but somehow, so, very welcome. His mouth was hot and slow and purposeful, and Kiibo was completely lost to the kiss until Kokichi broke away, arching his neck back with a shiver and a breathless laugh, eyes momentarily screwed shut in concentration, suppressing something deep in his throat.

"Nnnee-hhhee...hhee...! Shall I...count to three for us...?" Kokichi's eyes glittered with a euphoria that couldn't be hidden as Miu gazed up at him with her pupils blown, completely glazed over with lust as her mouth oozed drool, running her tongue all over the velvet weight pressed into her cheek with singleminded determination. The sight of her so eager to please and be pleased, along with the whispering touch of Kokichi's fingertips at his back made Kiibo sincerely worry that he might not  _make it_ to three.

"Let's do it together-inside this  _filthy cum-dumpster_ -okaaay? Miu, you can handle doing it at the same time, right? And  _no_  swallowing for you until everyone's finished. I believe in you, so work hard! Because-" His cheery tone dissipated as his fingers wrenched themselves through her hair and tilted her head until she couldn't do anything but moan around his cock, powerless to resist even if she wanted to, as he wrapped his every word in honey-venom and fed it to her letter by letter.

"-this is where your spit-roast gets  _really_  tough, especially for a needy, desperate, empty  _slut_ of a  _spoilt, loud, bitchlet_ of a  _princess_  like you-"

"Hhhhhiiieehh-mmmhhph-!" Miu gagged, cheeks flush as he stroked himself into her mouth.

"...One-"

Kiibo held both of her hips,  _tight_ , and pumped. A slight resistance wrung a squeal out of Miu, stopped short by Kokichi's hand leaving Kiibo's back to clamp down tight on her throat-

Her whole body jolted, every single muscle tensing even more than before as she twisted closer with each thrust, legs slackening wide open and quivering.

She looked so... _fraught_  with pleasure that Kiibo couldn't bring himself to stop Kokichi, and the fear that consumed him as the thought registered only brought him closer to the edge-

It was beyond explanation, rationality, reason, anything-he had no frame of reference for the guilty elation from beholding her at her absolute most helpless and defenseless state.

Perhaps the only reason he could enjoy it was out of an inexplicable trust he felt in Kokichi to not let her come to harm-his methods were shrewd, but he'd acted in a way that could bring Miu-

-to such a state-

"- _two_..."

Kokichi was counting  _far_  slower than the actual amount of time that was elapsing.

But when Miu looked directly into Kiibo's eyes, her mouth still obstructed by Kokichi's cock and her throat completely at his mercy in more ways than one, sliding a shaking hand between her legs to stroke herself open for him as he kept going, he couldn't help but feel grateful that the moment could stretch a little further. The hunger that had been dormant behind her eyes raged to life and completely illuminated their piercing blue through the light trapped in her wet lashes as she dazedly stroked her clit to attention with a palpable shiver.

"...Ah-" Kokichi giggled mischievously, batting his eyes at Kiibo with a feigned sigh of confusion, "-what's after 'two', again-?" Miu croaked pathetically through what little space in her throat there was to do so.

" _Three_ -" Kiibo moaned impatiently, feeling the mounting pressure inside of him reaching its peak, "-it's th-thr-"

He couldn't finish speaking. Kiibo  _felt_ Miu cum, as she arched off the bed, suspended in the ecstasy of the violent force with which her orgasm hit, and the sensation of her body squeezing around him left no doubt in his mind of its intensity. He'd...felt her reach her climax before, the other times they would engage in intercourse, but she'd never been left shaking quite like this.

Kokichi whined breathlessly and finished in her mouth, leaving Miu's eyes teary as he drew back to reveal her mouth painted white with his cum as she gasped, lips agasm for air. He released her throat and closed his eyes with a low groan. The momentary decrescendo of emotions, the relaxation of the face he'd kept up to spew vitriol and degradation for Miu's sake looked...handsome, in a way that Kiibo hadn't considered before. There was a zen to the empty look in his eyes that evoked not a sense of longing, but that of fulfillment.

Kiibo tried to wait just a little longer, but seeing Miu's mouth hanging open, flooded with cum and moaning the way she was as she rode out the aftershocks against him with such a weak, exhausted expression-

-she was melting from inside all around him; he'd held back as far as he could but the pressure built in his cock was beyond painful-

"C-C'mon Kiibo-I wanna feel it..." Miu rasped, breathless with airy, delirious laughter, gargling slightly as she diligently tried not to swallow Kokichi's cum, "-after you've been plugged up so long-please,  _please-"_ She sucked in a pained breath, sobbing-

"-j-just lemme be y-your-" She bit her lip and rolled her hips, whining loudly with a teary-eyed, red-faced expression that caught Kiibo completely off-guard.

Her face might have seemed almost...innocent if not for their circumstances.

"-your-" Miu shuddered, hiccuping as cum slid out from the corner of her lips, tears spilling out over her temples one after another as she spoke softly-

"- _hhhn_ -your...c-creampie?"

-as though she were asking for a first kiss and not for him to...empty himself inside of her.

Kiibo's chest reacted first, steaming over with the heat generating from his core, his body temperature spiking and his collar clicking forward to muffle the sound of the abrupt cry crackling his internal speaker. Static filled his vision and tingled throughout his limbs, and after the brief lapse of lost sentience he realized something was- _happening_ -

Miu's eyes were wide with the shock of the sudden warm pressure pooling between them, the sensation of hot synthetic cum flowing into her with such intense force that Kiibo's face burned with embarrassment.

"Aaahh-!" Kiibo gasped, his cock twitching as he slid out of her. He clutched at himself clumsily with his hand in an attempt to contain himself, but as the fluid streaked across her inner thighs, then gushed between his fingers and flooded their joints, he realized it was too late to stop what was going to happen. It shot out all the way onto where Miu's shirt was scrunched under her breasts, drenched the edge of her ribbon, and stained her skirt as it finally slowed to a stop.

"M-Miu, I'm s-sor-" Kiibo choked out, covering his mouth with a hand and looking away, cheeks flush. Miu's wide-eyed expression was not judgemental, but he couldn't help feeling-

-so  _helpless_ , in the face of how he felt for her, humiliated at it manifesting in such a way.

Kokichi's low chuckle drew him out of his reverie.

"Wow,  _so much_ came out, huh? You've been thinking about her  _like that_ for a while then-how  _lewd_  of you, Kii-boy." Kiibo glanced down submissively as Kokichi pulled himself back into his pants, zipped them back up, and playfully patted Miu's cheeks with his hands, returning her dazed, dumbstruck expression with a winsome smile. "Now open your mouth and let me look, too."

The command had scarcely left his mouth as Miu obeyed, the look in her eyes a thousand leagues away as cum stretched between her lips and revealed the pool of it coating her tongue and settling in the back of her throat behind her eager, fragile smile.

"Good girl, Miu! But...there's one more thing I want you to do, y'know?" Kokichi's hands slid under her shoulders, pulled her upright and against his chest with his arms crossed tight around her waist. She moved like the weight of her hair had pulled her head forward, cum dripping out of her mouth and flowing down into the valley of her breasts until Kokichi leveraged a hand under her chin and held it upright.

"You have to tell Kiibo exactly what you feel about him. Right now-" He hummed against her ear, speaking flush against it, "- _through all of the cum I left in your mouth_."

"I-love you,  _K-Kiibo_ -" Miu panted the words through dizzying breaths, her whole body quivering as she sobbed. "-I... _love you_ -nnh-"

Her words went straight to his core, wrapped around his being completely. The image of the shy look in her eyes and her cherry red face; he'd remember forever how innocent of a thing it was to say and make her look like this where the extremes she usually reached for didn't affect her at all.

His insides whirred quietly in response to the warmth spreading through him. Spreading through her.

Miu sighed and sank back, tilting her head to look up at Kokichi with meek, pleading eyes.

"-And I-love you too,  _Kokichi_ -" Miu admitted with a feeble, watery smile, eyes welling over so quickly with tears that Kiibo knew she couldn't see what effect her words had had on their recipient. Kokichi's lips parted voicelessly, his expression blank for just a moment before the mask was firmly set back in place, anchored on a crooked, confident smile.

"Hmmm? Hey, hey, I know you're just saying that-" Kokichi huffed, inches from her lips as he touched his forehead to hers, his hands cupping her tense shoulders as he slid his palms forward, spreading his own spilled cum over her breasts, reaching into her bra to cup their weight in his hands. Miu hissed, sucking in a whimpering moan as the pads of his fingertips lazily circled their peaks, her cheeks burning with color, neck arching back, knees wobbling from around Kiibo's chassis. "-Because you're still coming down from the high of being given a cum bath like a wallowing sow, right? You'd have to be a real sicko to fall for a guy like me, with all the depraved stuff I made you do for me, y'know? A total freak." Kokichi drew his hands out of her bra and raised an arm to cross it towards her shoulder and lift her chin with the inside of his elbow, fingers trailing over her cheek, keeping her close in a headlock against him. When he threaded his fingers into her hair to coax her into facing him, she tilted her head back and her unfocused gaze drifted wearily between his eyes, down to his lips, biting her own as her tears welled over anew.

Kokichi leaned forward, pressing his cheek against hers as he whispered into her ear, a quiet, gravelly drawl.

"...Must be something wrong with your brain, huh."

He tilted his mouth against hers and stilled the quivering of her lips with his own, kissing her hard. Miu breathed in sharply through her nose, whimpering from the unexpected force of it-and most likely from the fact that it was even happening at all. Kiibo's face flushed with heat just from watching them: the way Kokichi's eyes shone with a dulled glitter before closing, the way Miu's entire body breathed into the kiss as she wilted helplessly in his arms, her jaw going slack for the sweep of his tongue past her lips.

For all the vulgar language Kokichi had hurled at her about her mouth before, the way he was kissing her...

There was no amount of lying he could do to refute that he felt something from it, too.

Kokichi had accused Miu of leveraging intimacy with Kiibo for the sake of disguising her own feelings, but maybe that presumption was rooted in Kokichi's reality, too.

From within the cage of his arms, Miu was quickly overwhelmed into submission, mumbling and slurring nonsense against his lips, clutching at him everywhere she could reach, her fingers grasping at his scarf and his sleeves with blind, fumbling motions as he drowned her with his touch.

When he breaks away, a sticky strand of saliva connects their lips and dips between their bodies; he leaves her gasping to catch her breath, caustically dragging a thumb over the swollen surface of her lips to wipe away the mixture of drool and cum oozing out, wiping it on her shirt.

"... _Whore_." He grins wide at her pathetic expression, a hand winding down to drag the front of her underwear over her clit and tug it upwards,  _hard_ -

"-Hhhhhhiiiiieee~!" Miu's body curled defensively towards Kokichi as he dragged her closer to him by her panties.

"- _Fucking_  whore. You took us both on at the same time and you're still wanting more? I guess before I leave, the least I can do is show Kii-boy a secret for dealing with your nymphomania. Hey, you're watching, right?" Kokichi kept the waistband of her panties curled under his fingers as his thumb drifted down over the stiff bud of nerves jutting against the fabric, circling its perimeter with a slow, barely-there touch. Kiibo can't tear his stare away as Miu bites her bottom lip, driven nearly to sobs all over again from something so diminuitive-looking in nature. Kokichi's breath comes out hot against Miu's neck as he rolls his thumb directly over the top of her clit, once, twice, three times, coaxing her cries louder each time-

And then he  _stops_.

He smothers Miu's bleary, disoriented moan of protest with a final, chastising kiss, and then shoves her quaking, sobbing form away from himself and into Kiibo's arms.

"I've got to go now." He announces casually as Miu, shaking like a leaf, clings to Kiibo. "Aftercare isn't really my strong suit, y'know?"

Over Miu's shoulder, Kiibo glares at him openly, leaving no doubt of his disapproval. He braces an arm over her back as hers circle his neck, his other holding the back of her head with fierce protectiveness. Her heart is pounding against his chest and through her back into the palm of his hand.

At her most vulnerable, when she'd shown and given so much of herself-

"...Unbelievable. That you'd choose a time like this-" Miu's breath is billowing down the side of his neck in humid huffs, and she feels so suddenly fragile and small within his embrace that holding her closer, tighter, harder, is all he wants, and his voice falters in spite of the indignation he feels.

A greedy thought passes his cognition.

_I don't want to convince him to stay._

"I know. I'm just the  _worst_ , right? Didja already forget though? I'm the villain of this little fantasy...so, whatever affection I give must be tempered with the cruelty our princess here craves..." Sliding forward behind Miu like a shadow, Kokichi frames her legs with his, biting his bottom lip, eyes alight with mischief. Kiibo watches the roll of his hips that follows, feels the shudder that refers through Miu's body as the clothed weight between his legs grinds up against her rear, pressing her forward to rub against Kiibo's throbbing cock with the front of her drenched panties.

A loud slap echoes throughout the room-the sound of a palm striking flesh-paired with Miu's breathless squeal as Kokichi's hand caressed her from under her skirt where he'd struck, as if unable to part from the handiwork of the bright, lurid red mark he'd left on her backside.

"...and not be given easily. So long as Miu understands...there's no problem, right? I can't compromise our roles, one way or another, and certainly not by staying to  _cuddle_."

"Y-You-" Miu turned her head to whimper tearfully over her shoulder, "-you fuckin'  _kissed_ me-"

"And even if I did it again, right now, right this moment while you're looking at me like that, you wouldn't come any closer to understanding why."

He brought his fingers under Miu's jaw, stroked lightly from under her throat, and came to a halt at the tip of her chin to tilt it just slightly up to face him. Kiibo watched how her breath shortened, how her cheeks flooded with color all over again when faced with Kokichi's small, intimate smile.

"I need your heart to ache when you remember our time. I need you to remember my hands around your neck...my cock in your mouth...and the kiss that made you wonder if maybe I loved you, if only for a moment, of what we did. Because that's how villains win. Dirty tactics, selfish methods, and staying their hands-" He framed her shoulders in his fingers and stroked them down the arch of her back with a featherlight caress, "-even when all they want to do is touch and touch and  _touch_."

Miu grit her teeth over a defeated groan as Kokichi stopped and drew back, and he shot an absolutely cherubic smile at Kiibo over his shoulder on his way to the door.

"Nee-heehee...besides, there is such a thing as a refractory period, y'know. At least for meat bags like us humans. Lucky for you and Miu, you guys can go another round. And another, and another. Gosh, do I have to spell it out? So much for my villainous image." Kokichi feigned interest in his nails, shrugging before continuing, "There's nothing else I could do even if I stayed. So...have fun! We can do this again some other time, if you really end up missing me that much...Or if I ruined Miu for anything other than flesh and blood. That is-"

Kokichi didn't look back to them again as he faced the door, turned the handle, and spoke in a voice almost too quiet to hear.

"-assuming we all last long enough to keep each other company like this again."

The door clicked shut behind him, but the sensation of his presence lingered, ghostlike, in the space left between Miu and Kiibo.

...

It was all Miu could do to let Kiibo keep holding her. She was so weak that she was trembling, couldn't even get her emotions under control.

_Fuck Kokichi. Fuck him for doing this to me, for toying with me, fucking me, kissing me-_

Another  _fucking_  sob bubbled up in her throat as she squeezed Kiibo closer to her.

_-smiling at me-_

Did she hate it? Did she love it?

_-for doing everything I wanted._

She'd never been so mixed up inside before.

What...was she even thinking about, right now?

The words he'd carved so easily right out of her beating heart?

Their memory echoed and crowded her insides with an aching, saccharine heat. She was a mess, literally and figuratively.

Kiibo didn't hold her any less tightly for it, for how pathetically she hid her face over his shoulder, for how desperately her heat pressed against his groin at even a time like this. Her knees trembled from around his waist: he was already hard again, and  _god_  if that didn't give her battered, shaken ego a much-needed shot in the arm.

"I-I'm sorry, Miu-" Kiibo's cheek was warm where hers was pressed close, "-I can't...hide how I feel about you at all..." His fingers tensed within the folds of the back of her shirt, in the tangles of her hair, as he tilted his mouth reverently against her neck. "...And even if I could, I wouldn't want to. I don't...understand the way I feel when I'm with you. I only know that I don't want you to leave me tonight. I want to...understand more of this feeling."

"K-Kiibo..." Miu buried her face against his neck with a low whine, now further than ever from being able to look him in the eyes.

"Please, feel no obligation to do so on my account alone though. In hindsight, I wish I had prefaced my request with that statement instead of the other way around, the last thing I wanted to do was manipulate you with my feelings-or, to leave you with any guilt over whatever decision you make-"

With an exasperated smile, Miu cupped his face in her hands and interrupted his good-natured ramblings with a kiss; one that Kiibo deepened with cool fingers sliding behind her throat, holding her with a gentle urgency that told her he was still holding back. She'd meant for it to be short, so she could reiterate that the last thing she wanted to do was leave, but...

She didn't even want to spare her breath anymore for anything other than what was happening right now. Her palm slid down to his warm chestplate, and he followed her touch with the hand that had been on her back before, tracing his fingers across hers like they were a harp's strings.

Their lips parted.

Why was it so hard to find words suddenly?

She wasn't used to anyone looking at her with as gentle of eyes as Kiibo's, even if they looked more intent than they usually did right now.

 _Fuck it_ , she thought,  _I'm not gonna pussy out now, not without laying it all out there._

"...I want...to do more stuff with you. I don't wanna leave tonight either-" The words came tumbling out, one after another as she worried a lock of hair between her fingers, dragged her gaze up to his and begged herself silently not to  _fucking_  cry, "-and I want you to understand all the stuff you're wondering about, and I wanna hear-what you think of me, too..."

Kiibo stared at her through her fragile, uneasy admission as she hiccupped and grit her teeth.

"...so you better treat me really good tonight, 'cause-I'm letting you do it any way you wanna stick it!"

"M-Miu..." Kiibo began gently.

"N-No, don't!"  _Don't say anything nice, can't you tell I'll die?!_ Miu blanched and snapped her hands away from him, curling her fingers as the urge to cover her face grew, "You think I would say something I don't mean? Get fucking blown! I...I wanna-uhm..." She breathed out, hard. "Y-You wanna do it more too, right...? Y-You're not g-gonna abandon me too, are you-?"

And  _fuck_ , she was crying. Straddled half-naked in Kiibo's lap, streaked with tears and Kiibo's and Kokichi's cumstains, and bawling her eyes out with big ugly sobs.

"O-Of course I wouldn't!" The genuinely scandalized tone of voice inclined her to believe it. He grabbed her shoulders hard and she squeaked. "But-even if I  _didn't_ want to do those things with you-or if you came to realize you didn't want to do it ever again-the answers to those questions are strictly individual in nature and never conditional of one another." He held either side of her face in his hands, let her slouch into his touch to catch her breath.

Just held her.

"...I couldn't leave you alone if I tried, Miu."

Blinking tears out of her eyes, she bit her lip and huffed as she looked up at him, her embarrassment dulling under his praise.

He was so  _direct_ : how in the world did he still manage to confuse her so much?

"...Heh. Me neither, Kiibs. You're pretty fuckin' important to me-" She brought her hands up over his and slowly interlaced their fingers, paying no mind to the remnants of his dried cum squeezing between their fingers from between his joints as she held him tightly.

The both of them were a hot  _disaster_ as far as cleanliness went, but-

-Maybe that just meant she could convince him to join her in the shower later. He was waterproof, right?

"-So I guess it's a good thing we're so fuckin' hot and hard-up for one another." Miu barely had to put pressure into her palms; he laid on his back for her with complete pliancy, even moreso than he usually did. Her hips angled around his with a very meaningful, targeted roll as she leaned forward, tickling his chin with her breath, eyes half-mast with utter adoration for the way he gave himself to her so readily. "Though in your case...yes, I am harboring the most literal of connotations."

The love-lit weakness overcoming him at her words alone, from his bleary eyes to the deepening of his breath behind his softly parting lips made her feel like she could do anything in the world.

She was completely back in her element.

"You're gonna need a lot more than maintenance when I'm done with you, Kiibs."

"Your terms are acceptable: I don't believe you can break me any more than you already have, Miu."

A low giggle bubbled from her throat; the way he smiled made her heart squeeze.

"...I mean what I said before though. We can do whatever we want-whatever  _you_ want. I'm gonna treat you real fuckin' special, so if you want me to move or do anything I'm not doing already...you better ask me while I'm still  _lucid_ -" Her breath grew shallow with anticipation, "-before I'm cracked the  _fuck_  out of my genius mind from riding you silly and feeling you cumming inside me for the second time this morning."

Kiibo's voice synthesis module crackled sharply and rang with feedback, and his next words to her came directly from his speaker.

"...I stand corrected. But if you're offering, then...I do have a few requests."

" _Anything_  you want, baby-" Miu purred, kissing under his jawline. "-I'll blow your mind, just say the word-"

"Then...please do nothing to cover my eyes during our time together. I...also wish to...behold you unclothed entirely."

... _Oh_.

She felt a shiver refer through his system as soon as he uttered the words. He was still her same Kiibo, but-

-There was no doubt that he'd gotten bolder, more sure of himself. He spoke with an authority she wasn't used to hearing from him.

He must've wanted to see her really badly, to be so nervous about it but still so forthright.

"If you are hesitant, I understand-and you don't need to do something that will compromise you beyond your comfort level. I'm...asking in an attempt to elevate mine. But I won't risk hurting you to that end. It's unlike me to throw caution to the wind...but I'd be willing to try if it meant I could be even a little closer to you. Even if it makes me...want to be less careful with you at the same time. I want to understand this feeling though, and provide you an appropriate answer-" He reached up and stroked her hair away from her cheek, brushed his thumb over her lips, "-no matter what I have to do to reach it. I'll break every last boundary between us myself if I have to, if that's what it takes. I intend to mirror your resolve, that which I so admire within you, with everything I am capable of giving. When we're together like this, my inner voice disappears and I feel so lost...but also as though I can act with the clarity of purpose I am so often afraid of seizing. I want...to see you."

_The way he's looking at me...it's making my chest hurt..._

Her heart pounding as she whimpered and nodded, she sat up and unfastened the clasps for her harness first, easing it off from around her breasts and waist. The straps on her arms slunk down next. To her surprise, Kiibo's hands joined hers, carefully parting her from her garments as she undid her blouse and skirt. Her bra clasped in the front, so with the straps drooping around her shoulders, she unhooked it and gave Kiibo a wobbly smile as it fell away.

"...Miu..." Kiibo groaned breathlessly, hard between her legs at the sight of her almost completely naked.

"L-Lemme guess: like what you see? Are you gonna blow it just from looking at my g-gorgeous, perfect proportions-?"

_What...the fuck...? Why is my voice shaking-?_

_I can't even look him in the eyes._

Kiibo shifted his balance to ease the pressure of her body off of his cock, pitching her slightly forward so he could wrap an arm around her back, fingers in her hair. Miu yelped as she lost the balance from her straddle position, her breath catching as he held her close, his chest pressing hard into hers as he pulled her forward into a deep, soulful kiss.

" _Mmhh_ -"

His free hand palmed over a breast as she twisted against him, then followed her hip, thumb hooking into the edge of her panties and stretching the fabric slowly down her backside as far as he could with the positioning of her legs.

"I won't-" Kiibo's voice answered with more calm certainty than she was used to, "-not until I'm inside of you."

...Holy  _shit._

The words hit her with suckerpunch force to her gut, and the aftershocks spread lower. Somehow, she managed to fumble her hand over his and turn her body to help him pull her underwear the rest of the way down her legs, shucking it aside and whining as she sat back up on her knees above him, her fingers fanning out over the ridges of his chassis as he took himself in hand and lined up with her entrance, stroking the head along her slit as she started to ease her hips back.

Immediately, she bit her lip as a moan grated through her throat. Her legs felt like jelly already, and he hadn't even gone in. She was more familiar with being on top, but for all the new emotions she felt welling up inside of her, it might as well have been her first time all over again.

...Minus all the disgust and embarrassment and shame.

"I...have one last request."

"H-Huh? Wh-What is it?" Miu's eyes brimmed with moisture as she fought down the urge to snap at him to spit it out, to ask if this couldn't wait until he put it in. But she could see by the pained look on his face as he came into contact with her that he was just as eager, and that this question was probably something they'd only be in their right minds enough to ask and answer right now.

"When you're about to...that is, when you're... _close_ -would you hold hands with me? Ah, but-not before then-" The residual heat coming off his body was making his breath come out in visual huffs of steam, "-I want...to fill my hands with every single one of your curves in the meantime, f-f-first, M-Miu-" Kiibo stuttered as he thrust weakly into his fingers, his eyes clouded with affection as he stared up at her, taking in every bare inch of her from head to toe.

"Y-You wanna hold hands?  _Haah_ -" Miu breathed out sharply as she sank her hips to join his, keening with euphoria as she worked herself all the way down to the base of his cock, "-wh-what a  _perv_ -" She grinned with a pretense of slyness, but her breath stuttered as she adjusted to his size inside of her, "-but y-yeah, I can manage that much...n-no problem, Kiibs..."

"Am I...hurting you-?"

"N-No, I like it-" Miu answered quickly, wincing as she realized her answer was somewhat contradictory in nature, "-it feels real good-really, fuckin' g-good- _hhnnh_ -"

Her body easily proved the truthfulness of her words: she knew Kiibo could feel it too, how slick she'd gotten just from the sensation of him finding purchase inside of her as he pushed in. He nodded with understanding, and asked for no further reassurance.

Kiibo's hands rest themselves on either side of her hips, fingers spread and holding her down tightly as she circled herself over him until they were both moaning with mutual ache. With every shift of her hips stirring her insides with his cock, Miu pushed herself up and down, brittle, fragmented gasps singing from her lips.

"Nngh-! Ahh, Miu-just like that-"

The encouragement sent liquid heat straight down her spine and she bit her lip as she arched her back to grind down and around him slowly, but with much more pressure. Kiibo dropped a hand along the back of her thigh, running an appreciative caress along her soft skin before clutching at the angle behind her knee, his other hand pulling at the small of her back, then her shoulders, dragging her down, down-

-her lips hovered just above his and he stopped pulling. She searched his eyes for a reason but he just stared back, looking into hers with the same urgency she felt.

What was wrong? Why wasn't he kissing her again?

Unless...

"Y-You don't wanna kiss me?...Is it because...my mouth is...uhm-" She bit her lip, tearing up again, "-you think...I'm all dirty, huh?"  _That must be it_ , she thought,  _now that he's had time to think about it and realize-_

Kiibo, who'd entertained her line of questions with a dawning expression of horror, quickly shook his head, eyes wide as his once tranquil face now wore a deeply worried frown once more.

"N-No! I wasn't even thinking of that at all! Please, please don't ever worry about that, there's nothing that could overwrite what I feel for you, let alone something as superficial as what might've been in your mouth, especially considering I can't even taste anything-but even if I could, that's not the reason!"

"O-Oh." Yeah, she'd kind of forgotten as much in her panic. "Th-Then...why?"

"Ah-because, I-" Kiibo's face heated dangerously as he rambled, "-believe I...sort of didn't ask before I did last time."

"W-Well...I haven't exactly been askin' either..."

"But I already said that I trust you completely and that you don't need my permission for anything, so...you don't need to worry, Miu."

"B-But that's not fair-you don't know what I could ask of you. I don't wanna do something to hurt you, either..."

"I feel the same way. Our...personalities are different, but by no means incompatible, and it's fortunate that my instincts so often overlap with your needs in so natural a way. I kissed you because-I couldn't think of anything else I'd rather do or could think about in those moments that I did. And, while the outcome was favorable for us both, I am cautious about proceeding on my own intuition alone, so I am of the opinion that obtaining clear and freely-given consent is a crucial part of-of any relationship."

It wasn't in him to force anything upon her.

Even when it was something as obvious as a kiss they both wanted.

Miu dragged a hand over his cheek, fingers threading into his hair.

"...'Relationship'...huh?" She intoned, feeling something...sparkle inside of her when she echoed the word back to him. Warm images of them together, somewhere far away from this hell, happy and domestic, dulled her senses to the pain of their reality. Her heart was fluttering in her ribs like a trapped bird singing for release: but knowing that it could be choked by despair the moment she set it free stilled her resolve, even now.

"...Yes. I'd...like that future with you." Kiibo's voice was soft as his arms wrapped around her, embracing her, "I want you so much, Miu. I want-to share this feeling that I finally, finally understand with you-and I want it to be of comfort to you-" Miu trembled in his arms, clinging to the warmth he shared with her, "-I want you to know that...I love you, too."

With those words, the bird in her chest molted blood against her insides, tearing through her body to bring herself to his as she kissed him, desperate for him to hold her closer, to pull her tighter, fuck her harder, and he  _did_.

Miu gasped against his mouth as his hips thrust up into hers, a hard, slow force that rendered her knees wobbling and useless as she whimpered and completely fell apart. She fell to his chest with an exhausted sob and delirious laughter as she moved her hips with his slow rhythm, letting him fill her up and drag back out, crying silly as she rode him.

" _K-Kiibo_ -" Miu warned, eyes wide and pupils blown as she fumbled for his hands, her body slouching under the pressure of the feeling occupying the space behind her eyes and shooting down her spine. He caught her meaning immediately and laced his fingers with hers.

"I-I'm right here, M-Miu,  _Miu_ -aaah-?!" Kiibo yelped with alarm as Miu pinned his hands to the bed on either side of his face.  _So, so cute_ , he always made the sweetest sounds, now most of all, paired with that adorable look he got on his face when he was close-like he still didn't fully understand or expect the wave of ecstasy that was about to rock his system.

She pressed a shaky kiss against his lips, panting hard.

He trusted her anyway, wanted  _something_  with her: a friendship and love to share-

-and a future.

Her core squeezed tightly around his cock, and they moaned, together, as his hips jerked, slamming into hers.

"A-Ah, I'm s-sor-"

" _D-Don't_ -" Miu whimpered as he began to apologize, "-don't don't  _don't_ c'mon just- _just_...!" Her hips twitched feebly with her efforts to articulate herself, and their breath mingled as even her ability to speak fell apart at the seams.

"B-But Miu, it's-" Kiibo's embarrassed face stared back at her from beyond the blur that was her vision, "-it's...ah-a  _lot_..." He winced, and Miu felt a foreign heat blooming deep inside her, right from the tip of him, buried inside-

"O-Oh, _fuck_ , yeah-" Miu gasped, squeezing his hands harder and looking straight down into his eyes, "-let it all out-c'mon baby, it's okay-"

"Nngh-"

Keeping hold of his hands, she pushed them over his head so she could wrap him tighter into their embrace, push herself deeper onto him with a muted cry through her teeth, biting down on her lip once more, her cheeks flush and her skin hot. His hips began pounding up at hers much harder, but somehow even slower than before. The wet sound of their combined arousal seemed to echo in a way that filled the entire room with the noise.

"M-Miuhh-" Kiibo's voice felt far away, and he groaned louder than ever as he reached his release, shooting hot ribbons of cum deep into her body.

"Hhhaahh-" Miu let out a guttural moan of pleasure as she felt him finally,  _finally_  let go. " _Ohhh_ , Kii...bo-"

He hadn't been kidding: so much came out that it was leaking over the sides of his cock, and he hadn't even moved to pull it out yet. The pressure and heat of it was nothing short of  _exquisite._  Her hands slid up out of his, and before she could catch her breath, the cold, synthetic skin of Kiibo's fingers were trailing her navel, a thumb sliding in and down to circle her clit.

" _O-Oh_ , you're-" Miu huffed deliriously as the chilled digit pressed against the bud of nerves from all sides, then without warning, began to vibrate and hum against her. " _Aaaaah_ -!"

She  _screamed_. Her back arched tight and she very nearly lost her balance all over again, and when an orgasm tore through her body without mercy, he simply changed the pattern of his strokes, light, then heavy pressure, heaven and hell in one.

"K-K-Kiibo-!" Miu's voice was pleading but for what, even she couldn't tell anymore.

"You're...so warm here..." Kiibo mused quietly as she cried out from the pressure of a second orgasm, continuing as if not hearing her, as though he were in a trance, "...so flush with color..." His voice sounded so steady compared to before, clinical in tone as he experimented with his touches, "...I...am reluctant to part from you-when you make such a face, when you make these sounds..." His gaze dragged back up to hers as she sobbed and trembled for him, "...I'm broken, Miu-" He rasped out, passed his thumb slowly, then quickly over her clit again, forcing her muscles to contract around him yet again, prying another exhausted cry from her lips, "-I don't think this is-something that can be fixed. I don't want to be, if it is. I just want  _you_."

Kiibo's eyes trailed all the way down her body as she shook with the ache of three orgasms in a row. She felt like she was under a microscope. Heat radiated from his entire body and coursed into hers.

"Did I...hurt you?" He asked with a careful voice, "I feel horrible: you look so pretty, even when you're crying out so loudly." Kiibo covered his face with his hands, but the anguish was still easily read from that which peeked through quivering fingers. "I don't know...how to feel. Every time we're together like this...I feel like I'm... _new_."

She didn't need to ask if it was real.

She didn't need to confirm in him what she saw in herself through his eyes.

That feeling, one and the same with hers; there was no resisting it. And yet, a suffocating shyness clouded her tongue, leadened it and left her heart torn raw before him.

She didn't have words for what she was feeling.

Without a word, she slouched to his chest, hugged around his middle, and hid, like she always did.

Without a word, he wrapped his arms around her tightly, and didn't ask, like he always did.

But this time was nothing like before, and something told her it'd never be quite 'like always' ever again.

Because this time, she knew that even without words, he knew as well as she did what was in her heart, one way or another.

She borrowed just enough comfort from the thought to drift into a deep sleep right there in his arms.

...

Kiibo had drawn the covers over her sleeping form, Miu discovered upon waking up, moments before the morning announcement.

More surprising still was the realization that Kiibo had closed his eyes too, had entered a state resembling sleep in a way Miu hadn't seen before. Double was her surprise to find that they'd not- _parted_ , from one another before dozing off. If not for the muted ache between her legs, Miu was unsure she'd have sensed as much.

_"Rise and shine, ursine!"_

Rolling her eyes, wholly prepared to ignore it, Miu moaned and felt her lashes drift lower.

But a second voice chimed in, from close behind her.

"Nee-heehee, yeah, rise and shine, your-swine-ness!"

A trio of light fingers ghosted through the strands of hair bunched over the front of her shoulder and her cheek, swept them aside and behind her neck, and when she looked back to confront the voice, a plaintive squeak was all that came out as she came face to face with Kokichi smiling over his shoulder, his back towards her, one leg crossed over the other from where he sat on the edge of the bed. The mirthfully teasing expression faded as they looked at one another, and his face was unreadable. Her hair was still wrapped around his slender fingers, and she caught herself staring at the way he passed the golden strands around them in gentle loops, too purposefully for it to be idly done, but somehow too idle for something she was seeing him do for the first time. It looked as natural as old habit, yet his fingers slowed as he looked into her eyes, like he was seeing something for the first time too.

"Wh-What?" Miu's voice wilted, lips pouting as she tried to mentally filter through every reason he could have to stare at her like he was. She was between him and Kiibo again, but she felt like she was skirting another in-between, somewhere she had no way of knowing how she'd come to be there.

It didn't change that he had her balanced on his thinly-stretched tightrope of a smile, poised to fall into the words he kept behind his lips should he open them, speak them to her.

Lies or truths, she didn't know which scared her more. Didn't know which she wanted.

He must've known something of what she was thinking from the look on her face: why else would he smile carefully enough not to upset the balance between them, but with such cheer that anyone else looking on would think nothing had passed between them at all?

The tightrope she walked was between his hands, and there was no room to turn back or ask anything-not even if he could, or would, continue to hold it.

"...Nothing." He shook her hair free of his hand, the way he would as if something unpleasant had crept across his fingers. " _Certainly_  I didn't come just to see your oh-so-pretty morning face." He gestured with his other hand, a hanger of clothes from her room balanced on his index finger. "This is more than you deserve, buuut, I stole these for you so you wouldn't have to do a walk of shame back to your dorm in front of everyone! Don't say I never did anything nice for you, okay?"

"Y-You little  _prick_ -!" Miu snatched it from his hands, clutching it to her chest, as he beamed at her, nonplussed by the flash of indignation in her eyes. "What do you care anyway?"

"If you're a horny exhibitionist, that's your bag. I know you've already paraded yourself around the school in a lot less than a cum-soaked uniform. But it's the principle of the thing, you know? Now that we've gotten to know each other so much...it's kinda like you're mine, yeah? You  _and_  Kii-boy. And once something's mine, I don't like sharing with just anyone."

Before she could come up with a half-hearted retort for the fullness of heart his backhanded compliment had left her with, he was headed for the door, hand already on the knob.

"Let's hang out more later, okay? Even if you  _are_  pretty predictable...at least you're not boring."

"Wh-What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!"

He gave her the same mysterious smile as before, eyes shining.

"It means I'm a villain of my word, princess."

He vanished out the door, left her question to die.

The answers she wanted from him would indeed, not be easily given.

And still, she wanted them, even without knowing whether his smile would plunge her into lies or truths.


	2. Chapter 2

It wasn't that she had been expecting, or hoping, for Kokichi to have been telling the truth about seeing one another again.

That...was really only half-true, but it lessened the sting of him outright disappearing on them all after swiping that card key from the Monokubs in the dining hall and leaving them to search the school without him when she thought about it that way.

The sole redeeming event of the whole frustrating ordeal was the discovery of Kiibo's lab, but even then, he wasn't as excited as she was about it. An unusual lethargy seemed to plague him and it left her feeling deflated in turn, even with so many pretty robot parts to gawk over. The events of the early morning before felt so far away, even though they felt like they'd stretched for forever and in actuality hadn't transpired all that long ago. Knowing that it was probably a long shot that the three of them would be together like that again just worsened her mood.

_Kokichi..._

It didn't make any sense, and even though she'd opened that particular pandora's box by confessing to him at the same time as Kiibo, she was still pissed with nothing and no one to blame but herself. She'd...kind of known she loved Kiibo before they were all together. She definitely hadn't realized exactly how much he meant to her until all the Atua-inspired  _bullshit_  took him away from her, but she'd had that strange feeling in her chest around him that no one else gave her before.  _Comfort_ , was the word that came to mind. It was almost worse to be treated so kindly, she wasn't scared, but-

-But Kokichi?

When in the sweet name of  _fuck_ did she start feeling anything about him? Why did she have to see his smile whenever she closed her eyes, or feel so damningly helpless in every fiber of her being when his eyes lit up at her, or feel his every word hit her square in the cunt whenever he tore her down?

...Why did she have this impossible feeling that she'd somehow loved everything about him since before she'd even met him?

She whimpered uneasily from a corner of Kiibo's lab and squatted down to pretend to be looking at something on a lower shelf.

She felt sick. Hot.  _But I'm always hot_ , she heard the words in her head, subconsciously trying to cheer herself up. It wasn't enough this time. She couldn't pretend this feeling wasn't there, or that it'd been there inside of her for however long without her knowing.

 _Maybe...I can take it out_.

An ache behind the eyes, sinking into her chest as they closed.

 _Yeah, I'm...an augmented human after all, so if there's something bad inside, I can just get it out, right? It's just like a virus, right? So if I can just...spill my guts_ -

_If I can just..._

"Hey, are you alright?"

Miu jolted, then realized the question had been intended not for her, but for Kiibo: Shuichi had been the one to ask.

"...Yes. My apologies, it's actually...close to time for me to recharge, as I've been using more energy lately."

Pangs of guilt cinched over her heart from hearing the exhaustion in his voice. He'd stayed with her all night and morning watching over her and- _protecting_  her. He'd completely devoted himself to that cult, even though it was a complete crock of shit and their supposed leader had only been using him and the others for a power trip. When was the last time he'd gotten any rest?

And she'd been too wrapped up in her own problems to notice.

Cheeks flush with shame, she scrambled to her feet and snuck out the door while they were still occupied, crossing the courtyard in a haze as she made for the main building. Into the bathroom, first stall, door closed and locked. Her insides churned with nausea as scrambling fingers tugged off a glove.

_I just have to get it out, get it out, it's everywhere, in me, fucking me up-!_

Chest heaving for air she grimaced, clenched a fist, and sent her fingers straight to the back of her throat.

The moment they breached her lips, an uneasy moan filled her mouth. His smile flashed in her recollection again as her tongue laved over his-no, _her_ fingers, a dull heat igniting in the pit of her stomach.

 _Fuck_ , the solitary word passed through the fading lucidity of her blurring mind,  _I'm really doing this._

Her knees were already shaking. The stall door rattled on its hinges as she leaned back against it, twisting a hand under her skirt to hook her panties aside with a clumsy, uncharacteristic lack of dexterity; slickness clung from between the fabric and her core. A wretched sob of relief sang out as she stroked herself, the sound washing over the fingers lodged around her tongue.

" _Ko...kih-chi_..."

She had to sit down. Her knees weren't going to help her stay up for much longer, and while masturbating in a public bathroom (apparently) wasn't beneath her, doing it on the  _floor_  was not an option. She jerked her panties the rest of the way down and straddled the toilet, working her fingers around her clit and tilting her head back with an agonized croak of arousal.

_What would he say if he saw me like this...?_

_("That's a new level of pathetic, sucking your fingers and covering up your moans in a public bathroom stall? While you pretend it's_ my _fingers down there, no less-")_

She plunged her fingers home, crying out and curling the others into a fist that she could bite to stifle the sounds coming from her mouth. Her spine curved inward and her fingers reached towards it from the inside.

_("-geez, what am I gonna do with you...? You're a real sicko. A terminal case, even. I don't think there's any cure for a freak like you.")_

"P...Ple...ase..." Miu heard her voice from around her fist, delirious and hollow, "I...need...a-aah-"

_("...I guess unless I reward your manners, you'll never improve, will you? Alriiight-")_

She closed her eyes. His sing-song smile greeted her again, carving from out of the darkness behind her eyelids and she heard his voice, clear as day:

_("-ride my fingers until you break-")_

Her hips lurched forward and her first two fingers sank to the hilt of her last knuckles inside of her, pumping unsteadily until she was slick enough for a third.

_("-princess.")_

Her breath fluttered as the aching sensation rose inside her chest, claiming her throat, then her head, euphoric delirium closing in on her-

The door to the bathroom opened and she couldn't suppress a moan in time. A pained groan escaped from parted lips as her imminent orgasm abandoned her at the height of its crescendo, shamed back into the dark as her skin tingled with the fear of discovery.

"Umm...Miu? Is that you?"

Tsumugi.

"Wh...What's it to you, four-eyes?!" Miu panted, thinking quickly, "Got nothing better to do than listen to me take a shit, you mealy-mouthed eavesdropping skank?!"

"Wh-Why would I come to do that? Everyone's heading back to the dining hall, we've been looking all over for you so we can discuss what we found. Kiibo in particular is just plain worried about you, too..."

And she was here, caught with her pants down in a bathroom stall, riding her fingers with his name ghosting over her lips.

"...Are you coming?"

"-not anymore I'm not,  _bitch_ -" Miu muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"I'm on my way, I said." A beat. "Do you fuckin' mind-?"

"...Well...I need to go, too..."

_For fuck's sakes._

Miu cleaned herself up as best she could and flushed the evidence, pushing out the door and washing her hands.

_Get over yourself, four-eyes. Even if you have a shy bladder and you've got a lot of pervy fanboys because of your kinky dressup schtick, no one here gives a shit if you've gotta take a dump, least of all me-_

-was what she'd  _wanted_  to say, but the phantom sensation of his fingers lingered on her throat like a vice.

...

"Yeah, I had no idea where to use it, so I just gave up instead."

_Ineffably carefree-_

"You don't seem too disappointed about not being able to use it."

"I  **am**  disappointed, dammit! I wanted to use that card key!"

_-and now he pitches a big scene when he's called out? He understands how much his suddenly leaving affects people. He knew it with me and he knew so with them, but he does whatever he likes anyways-_

_-Like hell I can accept that._

"I smell another fuckin' lie!"

He deserved her doubts now more than ever right now. He wasn't playing fair with anyone.

It wasn't fair that the way he shrugged off her remark and didn't even look her way or take the opportunity to shred her to pieces made her bite almost clear through her lip.

...

Another Flashback Light.

Another piece of a puzzle that was missing all the side and corner pieces.

In other words, it did fuck-all for illuminating their situation. Meteorites and faceless world's-end heralders, glimpses of a burning world gleaming with flash and fire.

Meteorites, cults, Gofer Project...? None of it connects.

"Gonta hear that, too! Unless someone does something, world will end!"

All it did was reaffirm what she already knew: that she wanted to get the  _fuck_  out of here. There...had to be something she could do. While there was still time...she needed to get out. Or there'd be nothing left to save. Nothing, no one...

_Someone..._

_...No, not just 'someone'-it's got to be me! I can do it, I can save them if I can just-get out!_

"Heh...hehehehe...Mankind deserves damnation..."

"Miu?" Shuichi's voice feels like it's worlds away.

She can seldom hear herself thinking over the racket in her head-

 _It doesn't make sense! It's not fair! Why are we here? There's no point! Why can't I remember anything else? What happened to me, to us? What the fuck is this living nightmare?_   _Watching people die, killing one another, knowing the world is taking it up the ass-_

_-isn't even the worst part, anymore-_

"...Fuck that!" Miu cried, "We're already damned here! Being stuck with you losers is the worst hell there is!"

Himiko scolded her for her tone. But what was the point trying to be polite or sugar-coat their situation? She'd meant every word and she wasn't about to apologize, not to her, not to anyone; she felt helpless enough already without adding a useless sentiment for someone she didn't give a damn about into the mix.

"Sh-Shut up! I'm tired of this! Let us outta here! Let us out!"

_Fuck it. Time to dissociate._

...

Quivering at the table, smothering her every screaming urge to just shove her hand between her legs to the thought of Kokichi doing dirty things to her, she listened reluctantly.

She wanted him to acknowledge her. The realization coiled up tight in her chest like a loaded spring. One way or another, as long as his attention was on her, his words sharp enough to cut deep inside until she felt warm.

Kaito was raising his voice at Kokichi. Which wasn't anything  _new_ , but it didn't help the pounding in her head any.

Mysterious diseases, technology, the afterlife?

Her eyes glazed over with yearning. She wanted this to be over. She wanted to touch herself, to be touched.

This was bullshit anyway. The proof that this couldn't be the afterlife was sitting beside her at the table, stroking cool fingers over her knuckles: Kiibo was too good to go to the same place as any of these assholes when he kicked the bucket.

It was confusing, bleak, and frustrating, and no one would stop talking about it.

"Ughhh...Wh-Whatever...Just hurry up so I can get out of here..."

The fog swirling in her mind felt thicker. She rubbed a hand over the ghostlike tightness in her throat.

"Everyone seems...very tired. We should probably disperse for the time being." Kiibo's eyes were on her as he made the suggestion. Pity swelled in her heart, knowing that he was so worried for her when he himself was exhausted, and that she was mostly to blame.

"Oh! You've finally learned to read the air! Nice job, robot!"

Before Miu could gather her wits to fire back on Kiibo's behalf, Kiibo himself answered him.

"I'm...learning every day."

Miu didn't need to look up to register that the pause between Kokichi's remark and Kiibo's response was teeming with words unspoken.

Miu walked Kiibo back to his room, even though it'd started out with the reverse: he was trying to push himself again looking out for her, and she wasn't having it.

"Kiibs, I'm gonna be alright. I promise. There's...a lot on my mind right now, but I promise it's not bad."

"Miu..." Kiibo's inner servos hummed as she laid him down on his bed, "...Please forgive me. I seldom hear you speak so seriously..."

"I know! I know. But...it's serious shit we're in, s-so I-" Her eyes were starting to burn again. _Not now. He's already worried enough._ "-Hey, I'm gonna put you in emergency-suspend mode while your motherboard cools down. How are your joints? Did we...uhm-" She twirled a lock of hair as a blush stole up her neck, "-cause any damage to your infrastructure with our, uhm. Y'know-?"

"Oh! No-nothing of that sort. B-But I am noticing an audio-visual lag of sorts, because your lips are moving in a way inconsistent with the sounds I'm hearing coming from them."

"Huh, weird. And I'll assure you now I haven't taken up an interest in ventriloquism. Can I open your front panel while I run some diagnostics?"

"Please, go right ahead. I trust you."

Miu knelt beside him, retrieved the spare tools from under his bed, and set to work with the screwdriver, loosening the front panel. She reached in and traced the wires with her fingertips, finding trace amounts of condensation along their length. A shudder stole through him as her fingers ghosted by the warmth of his black box, try as he might to hide it.

"God, Kiibs..." Miu murmured under her breath, awestruck, "...you're so fucking beautiful..."

"A-Ahh-Miu, i-if y-you s-s-s-a-y that when, when I'm-I'm-m-m-m-m-"

Her eyes flickered up from out of his chest, noticing a distinct red glowing ring haloing behind his eyes: no doubt he was combating countless warning messages about his vitals as he struggled to speak.

"...Wide open like this? Your stutter is getting worse, too...but I mean it. Inside and out...I don't think I'll ever get tired of popping your hatch."

He'd always been...sensitive during maintenance, but this was different. Maybe he'd been overstimulated during their time together, and instead of fading off the edge, the receptors had converted the neural impulses into binary storage to prevent a full system crash; and over the time he'd spent cooling down, it'd defragmented and loaded back into his processors all over again in the form of overwhelming emotions-not unlike a 'morning after' type of feeling.

"I-I-I-I ca-aaaan't h-hh-ea-hheaar m-yyys-self now-nowww-"

Got it. He was experiencing the audio discrepency with even his own spoken words now.

"Shh, I gotcha. You're moist in all the wrong places-I'd use compressed air but that's more helpful with particulate debris, and I'm not feeling right about air-drying with heat given your condition. I don't wanna make you more disoriented than you already are. I'm gonna go in with staunching gel around the leak sites and then...figure out how to siphon some of this out of you." Miu mused aloud, then saw his face as he opened his mouth to reply, "Oh, don't worry about answering, just nod if you're all set."

Relief washed over Kiibo as he nodded in lieu of a verbal reply, and she applied the gel with her fingertips, carefully spreading it where his wires met the reservoir. The shapes made by his connective circuitry fit almost like a puzzle around her hand, the wires sliding through her lubricated fingers like blood vessels, and reaching in like this towards his core made her feel suddenly and inexplicably as though her hand were at the center of his heart, albeit one that pulsed all around her rather than within her grasp. The wires and circuit boards were packed densely within his chassis, and her resources were limited. She massaged the delicate mechanical fascia carefully for information, closing her eyes and tracing the wiring in her mind's eye. She touched on a wire that didn't resist her probing fingers as resolutely as its surrounding ones and immediately zeroed in on it by instinct alone, following it to its head and finding it partly disconnected from its dock.

"Kiibo-" She murmured softly, holding up her index finger in front of his eyes, "-can you follow my finger for me? I'm going to move it back and forth and reconnect this wire at the same time, but I'm going to be watching your eyes to find out whether this fixes it or you need more calibration somewhere. When I connect it, you might feel dizzy for a second because the visual lag might automatically correct itself and it could bridge what you were seeing to the new corrected visual very quickly-in other words, it could look like my finger just suddenly appeared on the other side. You okay with me doing this?"

"Y-Y-Y..." Kiibo stuttered, then nodded confidently as she described everything she was about to do, everything he might experience.

Miu watched his eyes as he tracked her finger from left to right over and over, making mental note of the slight delay vested in the motion. An idea occurred to her:  _If I reconnect it right after my finger changes direction, it should sync up without causing a visual discrepency._

She gave it two more passes, slid her fingers into place, and docked the wire. A huge smile, like curtains parting for sunlight, lifted her cheeks as she admired her immediate and flawless results; Kiibo's eyes began tracking her finger correctly the instant she slid it in, and seeing her smile made him smile too.

"Miu, you did it, didn't you? Ah-!" He beamed brightly at her as he realized he could speak properly, "-That was incredible, I didn't get dizzy at all! I must say that you're a complete natural at navigating my hardware. If I didn't know better, I'd say you'd built me with your own hands."

"Yeah?" Her cheeks flushed at his praise, and her fingers traced along his wires again, idly checking the strength of the connection. "Well, at any rate, whoever put you together certainly made a labor of everloving fuck out of it!"

Kiibo blinked at her. "I'm...not sure how to correct you." A sly smile curled the corner of his mouth, "Are you in need of recalibration too?"

"Ah-hahaha! Gettin' cheeky with me, huh? Not that I mind... _hnnh_ -" Miu bit her lip and toyed with her hair with the hand not currently lodged inside of his chassis, "-wh-when you talk to me l-like that..."

Her antics garnered an adorably nervous blush out of him and he fell silent.

"Aww,  _sweetie_ -" She cooed comfortingly, giggling as she felt his insides warm up around her hand, "-Alright, I've got it. A labor of everfucking love?"

"...Or...everlasting love..."

She'd been doing the bit as a joke to loosen him up, but Kiibo's surprisingly-forward reply caught her off-guard. She moistened her lips and swallowed hard.

_I should probably get my hand out of him and close him back up, this probably isn't too comfortable for him-_

She'd still been thinking of some way to respond as she slowly started withdrawing her hand, but he lifted his and gently caught her around her wrist with his fingers, halting her.

"H-Huh...?" Miu's eyes widened in alarm, but Kiibo's voice was steady.

"Can...can you wait? I'd...like if we could stay like this. Your hand, it's..." Kiibo's eyes were glazed, "...so close to my..."

"...Y-Your black box, right?"  _That's right, I'd brushed by it earlier_ , "That's where all your signal processing happens, isn't it delicate...? Like a brain?"

"Yes...though I like to consider it more like a heart, given its location." Kiibo admitted sheepishly. "I know it's not completely rational. Even humans say things like 'follow your heart', even though it governs none of the decision-making in the brain, ultimately responsible for determining the chemistry between two individuals. But it's such a mysterious organ. From the center of the body it has enough power to circulate life through everywhere else. I wonder if that's why it has such strong connotations with the idea of love. The feeling that...no matter where someone may be, your heart will find them."

His thumb trailed along the inside of her forearm, and Miu felt her heart pounding as it neared her pulse. Her mouth felt dry again.

"...Y-Yeah," She affirmed, still awestruck by the tender look in his eyes, "but...love isn't really rational anyways, i-is it? I think...that's a really beautiful way to see it." A beat. "Um...Kiibo...?...Can...I...?" Her fingers curled meekly inside of him as she searched for the words.

And by some miracle, he sensed her innocent curiosity, understood exactly what she was trying to ask.

"-Please. I'd like nothing more, Miu..."

"O-Okay..."

She eased her hand forward, deeper into the heat of his core. Kiibo's body seemed to hum all around her, radiating warmth, guiding her.

"You're...close..." Kiibo breathed in barely a whisper, eyes closing with anticipation.

Miu wanted to reply, to let him know somehow that she'd be careful, gentle, but none of the words in her head seemed right. The look on his face wasn't really seeking reassurance, anyway. Her fingers uncurled, lengthening fully, and she splayed them forward until she could rest their tips against his black box.

Kiibo's lips parted, soundlessly at first, then with a soft sigh as his eyes opened to greet hers again, never having looked more in love with her than in that exact moment.

"Miu..." His voice pleaded urgently as her fingers spread around its oblong shape, cupping it in her palm as carefully as one would hold a newborn bird. With every articulation of her skin against it, he winced and panted, eyes weak and hopelessly overwhelmed as he clutched at her arm. "-S-Stay,  _stay_ , Miu  _please_ -"

"I'm-right here-" She answered, shuddering for breath herself at the display, closing her fingers just a little tighter around the box, feeling how its angles seemed to fit perfectly into the cocoon of her palm, the corners formed in her knuckles, "-can you feel me here-?"

Breathless, Kiibo nodded frantically, a pitiful whine emanating from his speaker as he writhed against the bed. Miu caught her breath and leaned forward over him, caressing his hair out of his eyes, cupping the back of his head. He stared up at her, open-mouthed, like she was carved from marble: the amount of pure admiration in his eyes at that moment made her feel like her chest had caved and squeezed every ounce of air from her lungs.

She closed his lips with hers, a shallow touch when she considered that she was holding his heart in the palm of her hand, but one he responded to no less urgently. He hummed against her mouth and she drew back, just to hear how his voice ached for her, to see the longing magnify in his eyes, then smiled sadly and fell into him once more; fabric rustling, the bed creaking as she sat balanced on the edge, over him, a hiss of startled breath passing through her nostrils as he pulled her closer, his fingers cupping the back of her neck.

"K-Kiibo, be careful-my hand, it's-" Miu whimpered, touching her forehead to his.

"Y-Yeah...I know. But...even if something happened right now-if you were my final memory-that wouldn't be so bad."

Miu felt her stomach turn over.

"Don't...don't talk like that. Don't...leave me..." Her voice wobbled, "...not-not  _here_."

_Not anywhere._

She didn't even need to guess that the recoil she felt hearing those words was clear on her face, even if Kiibo hadn't spoken up once more to reassure her.

"Miu?"

"What is it?"

The pause between her words and his seemed to stretch a little longer than was comfortable.

"...I promise I'll find a way out of here. If not for me-"

_No..._

"-then at the very least,"

_No, no no no-_

"-I want for you to-"

" _Shut_   _up_ , Kiibs."

Her fingers tensed around his black box and she cursed the situation-why did he have to say such things right now? Didn't he realize how dangerous that was? One wrong move and she could break him-and what if she couldn't put him back together?

Her free hand trembled as she went to pry his fingers off from around her wrist, and he didn't try to hold fast.

"I'm sorry, Miu-I won't talk like that anymore. It was insensitive of me to speak in such a way."

The dejection in his voice made her bite her lip as she drew her hand out of him and closed his panel back up.  _Fuck. Shit._ Who was she to stomp down his wish? She who didn't even have a plan of her own, and he had only been saying what he felt-

He loved her so much that he wanted to save her. He didn't even know how, but it was strong enough of a feeling that he could find the strength to voice it aloud even under such oppressive circumstances, and she'd shot him down just because she didn't have the same courage.

"...I'm sorry too, Kiibs. Just get some rest, would you?" She swallowed, struggling to keep her expression neutral, and added, "It would take a load off my mind if I knew you weren't overdoing it."

"Ah-of course." The hesitant relief that flickered across his face assured her that he would not do anything too hasty, would not do anything to risk upsetting her so soon again. If only he could know she'd already forgiven him, that she'd never truly been angry to hear him say that-

- _It made me happy._

She knew he could refuse her nothing, and she felt pathetic for leveraging that trust.

But she didn't deserve it in the first place, so it didn't pain her as much as she expected to play the part.

Miu left his room to let him recharge, just as Shuichi was coming down the hall.

"Oh, Miu-" He called out to her, and she froze, not expecting him to acknowledge her, "-how are you? I'm sure you've got Kiibo taken care of, but...how are you, Miu? You didn't quite seem like yourself this morning."

"H-Huh...? F-Fine. I'm fine." She shifted slightly back, folding her arms, fingers gouging at the fabric. It didn't take a detective to see how plainly she was hiding something, so Shuichi being the one she crossed paths with seemed like overkill. "You want something?" Miu asked through gritted teeth, trying to ignore the heat creeping up her neck.

Why was he being so nice to her? She hadn't done anything for him like she'd done for Kiibo, and it was obvious he was vanilla to the bone and wouldn't surprise her like Kokichi. He had a fragile strength behind his tired eyes that just so happened to move her, knowing that he was a ball of anxiety and that he'd gone out of his way to come toss a line out for her.

"Ah, no...I was just wondering. If you need anything, I'm around. Take care, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, sure."

She watched as he returned to his dorm, too preoccupied with the wobbling in her knees to sense another pair of eyes watching her.

...

_"Oh, before we go, Gonta put manhole cover back how it was."_

_"Ah-haha, no one's dumb enough to challenge that dump again!"_

_"Yeah, I had no idea where to use it, so I just gave up instead."_

Maybe he'd spoken too soon.

Maybe there was exactly one person dumb enough to challenge that dump again.

And maybe it was the same person dumb enough to fall for a loud-mouthed inventor and her robot.

_Speaking of..._

Kokichi shelved his plans as he stepped inside the dormitory building, observing from the entrance as Shuichi approached Miu.

He had to stifle a snort of amusement: even from so far away, she had a habit of emoting with her entire body, so it wasn't hard to tell something was flustering her, bothering her, intriguing her, all at once.

They parted ways, and Kokichi waited for Miu to shut herself into her dorm before stepping out into the foyer.

...

Miu nearly hit the ceiling when the doorbell rang behind her not a minute after stepping in to pick up her notes.

"For fuck's sakes-!" She exclaimed, throwing the door open, ready to give an earful to whoever had poor enough timing to interrupt her when she finally had something important to do-

-and squeaked, the blood draining from her face as Kokichi himself slid through the door, pulling it behind him with nonchalant guile that didn't quite fit the innocence projected on his face.

"H-Hey, you gotta wait for permission before you come inside!" She sputtered, inching back.

"Sorry." He tilted his head and flashed a grin, eyes crinkling shut with playful mirth. When they opened they shone with mischief. "I'll be sure to remember that next time you're begging me to breed you like the desperate bitch in heat you are~."

Her knees locked together. She suddenly remembered with perfect clarity how she hadn't been able to finish getting herself off in the bathroom. The reminder made her ache to her core all over again, flushed her with shame and excitement for how dearly she wanted to just drop to her knees for him and let him make an embarrassing mess of her any way he wanted.

"Hhiiieee... _sh-shut up_...you're  _awful_..." Miu whimpered, curling her lips tightly, quivering all over, "...Even if our kids  _would_  be fuckin' adorable little geniuses, I...I wouldn't want them to have a dad that runs out on them!"

"What makes you think I'd run out on them? Have a little more faith in your boyfriend, Miu,  _geez_!"

_Boyfriend?!_

_What the hell? Why does he think I'd want to imagine shacking up with him and getting knocked up, making some babies with him and getting a cute house in the suburbs? Or maybe a condo in the city, close to some decent schools? Either way, as long as they'd get a good education, it just depends on what kind of personality they have, and what would be best. But he better not expect me to do everything for them, even if I'd love the shit out of them! He'd have to try hard to help them on their tough days too, maybe cheer them up with some of his crappy pranks and put his mischief to use for good. He could probably do a really good job if he tried. He's actually really observant and he'd at least be good for making them laugh-_

"Nee-heehee! Awww, Miu,  _nooo_. That look on your face..." His mouth twisted into a pitying smile, "...you were actually taking the idea seriously?"

Red-hot scorn lit up her eyes and sent a thrill of unbridled rage through her tight throat.

Of course. Of  _course_  he'd only been joking.

"D-Don't tease me! You're one awful, fucking son of a  _bitch_  if you're gonna lie about something like that!...You had no problem abandoning me this morning after all." Miu crossed her arms uncomfortably as he patiently endured her tirade.

"Shall I address your concerns in order, then?" His voice was all customer service and cheer-as bright as it was ambiguous and formally informal. "First of all...what makes you so certain I was lying? And secondly...why do you think I went through all the trouble to come see you-?" His voice was a low purr at the bat of an eyelash, "-when you're all alone, no less?"

The corner of her mouth twitched almost imperceptibly, but she said nothing, for fear of the hot prickling feeling forming behind her eyes.

_Did he...mean it then?_

She flinched when she felt his hands on her wrists, not realizing he'd closed the distance between them, and he took advantage of her confusion to shove her to the bed behind her and crawl over her, seating himself with his hips open around hers.

"Wh-What the  _fuck_ ," Miu clenched her teeth, struggling as he pressed his hands into hers and drew them up above her head, pinning them still, "-let...go of me..." But the air under her hiked skirt felt like heaven against her hot skin and even she could hear how little heart was in her words.

"Sure, if that's what you really want." Kokichi let her go, easily,  _so_  easily, but didn't move from his position. Neither did Miu, hands above her head and all. She went as still as she could possibly force her trembling body to in a desperate attempt to mask her disappointment. His eyes lingered evenly on hers, tracking how they shifted nervously under his scrutiny. "Geez, I must be a really scary villain though, if I can get the gorgeous girl genius to cower under me with such an uncomfortable face!" He accentuated his taunt by prodding her cheek with his finger. "Or maybe you're just in a wimpy mood 'cause you took me seriously when I was making fun of Kaito earlier. Did I scare you? I couldn't help myself, y'know? He's just so easy to wind up!"

A strangled noise of indignation started in her throat, even through the marginal relief of him telling her he'd only been teasing when he'd talked about those terrifying possibilities. Knowing he didn't actually believe it made her feel reassured, somehow.

As screwed up as it was...she had some faith in his reasoning and the ways he thought about things. In him.

Kokichi dipped close, his humid breath warming her ear, and Miu flushed scarlet as he nuzzled into her hair.

"...Kind of like you." His thin smile seared the skin of her neck like a brand, and her chest stuttered with a jagged inhale as his words vibrated through her throat, "But you're  _so_ much more fun to play with..."

"...h-hhnh-"

"...because you  _want_  my attention so badly, huh? How about it, Miu-" He murmured into the side of her neck, lips poised on her pulse, "-you need me to take care of that fever in your bones, just a little?"

For someone that lied so often, he had no business being so correct exactly when he wanted to make a point.

"J-Just...a little-I've...got, s-stuff, to do... _nnhh_ -" Her words came out slurred, hopelessly distracted, her vision blurring as he was upon her the moment she voiced her consent, his kisses a welcome frost on her feverish skin. Perspiration dampened the space between her breasts as he pinned his chest against them, made her strain into his body with each maddeningly warm kiss he smothered into her nape.

"I'll make it quick then."

His kisses turned sharp on the edge of her jaw; she arched her neck back with a plaintive mewl as he tamped a blush of plum bruises down and along her shoulders. With every inch she struggled, Kokichi's body suffocated hers like a shadow stretching in a sunset, swallowing her with his touch. His hand palmed over a breast, his thumb passing over her clothed nipple again and again until it ached against the fabric. It came to a stop and switched course, following the curve under and away from her cleavage, edging his nail along the side of her breast and towards her underarm until she squealed loudly and gripped his shoulder desperately for mercy.

Their eyes met, then parted, before his dragged their stare down to her lips. With no plan at all formed in her mind, Miu moved instinctively, cupping his cheeks and pulling him, kissing him,  _hard_.

He stiffened and inhaled sharply through his nose, and even though the only rational thought in her mind was that she needed that kiss so much that she didn't care if he shoved her away in the next moment and wiped his mouth and left her wanting all over again, she felt herself falter on reflex, fearing exactly that reaction, her lips briefly parting from his as she quaked with  _fear_.

The way he stared at her was completely impossible to read, but every question she could've asked if she'd had the courage to disappeared the very next moment, as he plunged forward, mouth slanted on hers, pressing her down with all his body. The shift in his hips and the weight of something straining on fabric against her stomach brought to her the hazy and slow realization that he was hard against her. Her whole body felt uselessly heavy as she willed her hands to move down his chest, pawing at the front of his pants, trying the zipper-

And then he stopped her short with a quick slap over her wrist, sending the offending extremity recoiling with terror to her chin, her eyes wet.

"Non-non,  _princesse_ -wasn't it you who said you had other things to do today?" His eyes were shining: he knew exactly what he was doing. "You're so distractible...maybe I should just  _go_  so you're not tempted-"

"N-No! Don't...!" Miu cried out, too quickly, her lungs heaving for breath, "P- _Please_  don't go-"

"Then try to read the situation a little more carefully, you  _vapid bitch_." Kokichi all but spat the words, but his fingers were gentle around one wrist, then the other as he tugged her arms over his shoulders. She looped them around his back obediently as he wrapped his around her waist, tugging her chest harder into his. His expression seemed less harsh as he looked down on her from so close. "I know you're loose enough to drop your skirt for anything with a pulse at a moment's notice, but you're so tactless about it. After all, you don't see me ripping through your clothes even when your nipples are hard enough to cut  _glass_."

He kissed and sucked a trail up the neglected side of her neck until her chin turned invitingly to the side for him, and his smile edged against the corner of her mouth, his breath warm and dangerously sweet. His words ricocheted around in her head with dizzying force, her heart melting into putty and gumming up her already-strained lungs even more.

"...I wonder," Kokichi hummed, as though he was growing bored, "...if you can even feel my heart beating through these big, stupid tits of yours..." Miu slurred something incoherent and argumentative, but the words fell away, sinking into the valleys left by kisses that grew deeper, more difficult to resist as they lingered. He laved his tongue over and around hers, pulling delirious moans from her throat as she clutched for his shoulders, warping the fabric in her fingers.

"Mm...hm..." She moaned with affirmation, twisting and sighing as she let him crowd her body into his arms, kissing her like she'd imagine kissing a lover to be like. A pained sweetness washed over her mess of a spent heart as he buried his mouth against her throat once more, left her panting into his shoulder as she held on with shaking hands, sweating palms, and bending knees, trying and failing to hide that he had her outright sobbing for release. A throaty groan rumbled in his chest as his hips rutted forward, seemingly involuntarily. His breath was cutting and stuttering as his clothed cock slid along her stomach.

"You're holding on so tight, Miu-I think you  _are_  scared." Kokichi smiled as a shrill whimper wobbled from her trembling lips, as he silenced it with his own. Her knees squirmed together, her eyes wide and imploring as his thighs tensed around hers. Her voice called for him, just like how she'd done when she was alone in that bathroom.

"K...Koki...chi-"

His head bowed suddenly, into her shoulder, as though her saying his name had knocked the air clear out of his lungs. Heat pooled along her collarbone: the kisses he continued to press there were either getting wetter, or he was drooling on her. Either way, it was sending her further into insanity. Her body was so hot she couldn't stand it another minute.

_This...can't be his first time being with someone like this. He has to have done this before, but...he doesn't seem like a playboy, somehow..._

_...But still-_

" _Hhhiiee_ -" Miu whimpered, her legs locking up as she tried to find friction against the front of his pants, heat coiling in her stomach. His mouth lavished her throat so completely; how in the world did he know just what would set her off?

_-Who would have ever let him go?_

"Hey, Miu." He sucked in a breath against her neck, murmuring slowly and quietly, "Would you  _really_  cum...just from being kissed?"

Her hands slid down the front of his shoulders, balling into fists into his scarf as she cowered eagerly, with a mix of weak, nonsense laughter, sobbing, coming out in huffs.

"Nee-heehee...what a  _crybaby_. Getting all shy over some kisses when there's no telling how many guys you've wrapped those lips around. Cute-" He pressed a kiss to her cheek that lingered. Somehow, she knew that it meant this was ending.

"-and  _pathetic_."

Miu shuddered, laying there, hugging her arms as she caught her breath.

"I'd stay and watch you deal with the mess you made of yourself, but I've got things of my own to take care of. And if I recall correctly, so do you. Buuut...I could swing by your lab later and we could finish up? I wanted to pick your brain about some things I've been thinking about, anyways."

She could at least take a little comfort that 'things of his own' to take care of probably included a cold shower for the state she'd left him in after their little session, but the idea that he actually wanted her help with something made her wary.

"I...can't today. I'm not going to the lab."

"Hmmm?" Kokichi toyed with a lock of her hair, but she offered no other details. "You're not planning on killing anybody, are you?"

"Of course not you fucking sicko, get lost-!" She made to shove him, but he evaded nimbly and rolled out of her bed.

"Hasn't gotten that bad yet, huh?"

"Even if it did I'd never expect you to understand how I feel, you rotten little shota-faced goblin-shit! Y-You've wasted enough of my time, so fuck off already!"

"Alright, see you tomorrow then, sweetheart!"

Miu chucked her pillow at him as he ran off. It collided with the door closing behind him and hit the ground with a flaccid flop. She slumped back into her bed and stared at the ceiling. The solitude was more unpleasant now than ever before.

He'd left nothing behind but a throat stamped with hickies and dangerous questions to keep her company.

_Damn it. I can't waste any more time. If someone chooses Kiibo, or if Kiibo tries to find a way out on his own..._

_He can't protect himself._

She sat upright and recovered her notes from beside her bed, wadded them up and stuffed them into her pocket before leaving for the third floor.

...

She woke up slouched over the keyboard. Fluorescent blue and green light flickered from the screen looming over her, silhouetting the cables hanging down loose from their casing, twisted like writhing, slithering vines around her arms-

Miu sucked in a breath and jolted awake, for real this time.

_Another fucking nightmare..._

Her throat dry, she inhaled ancient dust and wheezed, stumbling to her feet and gathering what she'd brought with her. As her hand reached the handle for the sliding door, she suddenly froze, ears straining.

_Are those...footsteps?_

This hallway was a dead end.

 _A dead end, a dead end_ , her mind echoed, her palms clammy and her knees shaking.

Oh god, no, no no, she couldn't die here-how long had she been asleep? She had no idea how long she'd been alone, or where anyone else would be, certainly not here, on this floor-

Two people were killed on this floor just days ago, someone could be trying to kill her, and she'd never find a way out, never find a way to save anyone-

_Run! Do something!_

Screaming for her muscles to work through both her residual sleep paralysis and her overwhelming fear, she pushed with numb, tingling arms and felt pinpricks tickle all down her legs. She tripped over her own feet running to hide behind a moldy armchair, slamming to the ground unceremoniously, biting her lip with a squeal of pain she couldn't hide.

The door opened and she held her breath. It came crashing out in tides of relieved sobs as she saw who entered.

" _K-Kiibo_!"

"Miu-!"

Miu staggered to her feet tearfully, breathing hard as her heart struggled to catch up with her mind. Kiibo put steadying hands on her shoulders and held her as the sickening sensation of fearing for her life so violently edged off.

"You're not injured, are you? What are you even doing here? I-I don't have a crying function, but if I did, I'm sure it would adequately quantify my relief that you appear to be unharmed. Even without supplementing the sentiment in such a way...I can't exaggerate enough how thankful I am that you're safe-"

Miu blinked back tears, still completely shell-shocked. Seeing him like this made her feel so guilty. She knew it was her fault. He was supposed to be resting, and instead he was taking risks, coming after her.

It was only dumb luck that she'd awakened in time to keep him from seeing anything she'd been working on. It was already difficult enough without risking how he felt about her.

What would she live for, then?

Kokichi's smile illuminated her addled mind like a soft light in the dark, but it wasn't comforting to her like she wished it could be.

The rules of this killing game kept her from even that much.

_Even if things work...I can't save everyone._

"What...? That's, um...how did you even know where to find me?"

"I was looking for you and started with Kokichi. He had retired to his room for the night already, but I figured he'd have the best idea of where you might've been, since you weren't in your lab..." Kiibo frowned, "...Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Uh..." Miu rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and tried to smile, "... _late_?"

"You could say that. He told me you'd mentioned having to work on something, and I remember how you had...taken a liking to working with the computer. I would've come looking for you sooner, but I was still charging. I...am ashamed to admit I was not even aware you were missing until I worked up the courage to come and thank you for taking care of me today. But you...were gone. I...feared the worst."

"...I'm sorry." Dear fuck, she meant it. Her eyes were burning and bloodshot with tears and lack of proper rest. She must've looked awful.

"Perhaps it is not my place to say," Kiibo began, and Miu could sense his hesitation straight away, "but...could you not limit your time with the computer to the daylight hours? I know you get very deeply involved in your work, but...for your safety-oh! Or perhaps...I could just accompany you-?"

"No."

A cocktail of bewildered emotions shifted his face: stunned stillness, confusion, worry, even jealousy.

"No...?" He echoed. "...Is it...too much to ask you why not-?"

"Yes. My answer is no, and it is too much to ask. I'm sorry. I can't tell you. I can't tell anyone."

He looked absolutely crestfallen. "I...don't understand..." His stare lingered on the machine behind her disdainfully. For a moment, she longed to tell him, to explain everything. To beg him not to hate her for the skeletons of plans half-formed in her mind.

But for the same reasons-the same laws-that prevented him from protecting himself, she could not.

_He can't harm another human. And through inaction, he can't allow another human to come to harm. If I tell him, he'll be forced to subdue me permanently somehow. I just have to be patient, or all of us, me, him, everybody-we'll all die without it meaning a damn thing._

"I can't explain it. Not yet. Just...I don't wanna talk about it, Kiibs. So please, don't ask. I'm...working on something really great, y'know? I can't just spoil it right now-do you know how much more people would fuckin' hate me if I gave them false hope?"

"M-Miu, nobody hates you-"

"Tch, they may as well, you and Cock-ichi and Cuck-hara are the only ones that treat me like I'm worth a damn!"

_And Kaede._

"Look, you don't need to console me, I don't need those losers to acknowledge me anyways. You guys are all I need. Just...walk me back already. I feel like that bobble-headed bitch is gonna come and haunt me any second."

_The only people in the world I need are here in this shithole, and I can only escape with one of them, if that._

Kiibo stared at her, and for a keen moment she felt like he knew more than she'd like him to. Why would seeing her distress give him pause? Why, when he has so much to worry about already?

Because he loves her?

Her heart squeezed.

"...Understood. Shall we?" He dropped the subject, to her relief.

She kept her arms folded as she walked with him back to the dorms, mostly to hide the shaking in her hands, but also because she was a little bit afraid of what she'd feel if she held his.

...

A new day. Miu was absolutely determined to start over. She was up well before the morning announcements, before anyone else, and made her way to the kitchen.

_First things first, I'm gonna bake the most bomb-ass apple pie Cuck-hara has ever laid his virgin eyes upon. I can't have him thinking I'm some mopey drip after he took the time to check on me yesterday._

And truth be told, she welcomed a distraction. A warm-up of her hands, before she got to real inventing.

The filling was sweet and just a little tart: the crust, crisp, immaculate and golden, glazed with sugar and cinnamon. Almost perfect.

She took the kitchen shears and snipped a few strands of stray blonde strands from a lock of her hair. They were barely noticeable on the top, but it wasn't like she particularly wanted them to be seen. After all, the best she could do for someone who'd done right by her was to give them a piece of her, right?

...

As it turned out, her unorthodox pie topping was  _not_  as 'barely noticeable' as she'd thought.

But again, it may have had something to do with the fact that it was a detective that was looking.

He rejected it completely. Wouldn't even try a bite.

And he'd looked so happy to see it, until noticing that part of her was in it.

Not even when, in her haze of disappointment and humiliation, she babbled on explaining how she was an augmented human and that maybe, just maybe, her hair would've awakened something in him.

"That kinda power has gotta be inside me though!" She half-sobbed, half-wailed, "I wouldn't have woken up after that car accident if I wasn't some sort of augmented human."

Wildly desperate to get her point across, she brandished her kitchen knife.

"Just, look, okay? I'll show you the inside, it's no big deal-"

_No big deal, no big deal, it's not like I can actually die here or anything! I know it's the only explanation for how I'm even here-_

But he stopped her.

"H-Hey, don't! You can't hurt yourself, Miu!"

His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, halting her arm mid-swing. The knife slipped from her fingers and clattered to the floor in the soundless halls.

And for a few seconds, she could do nothing but stare, mouth agape.

_...Holy shit, he...actually-_

_-why would he...?_

"S-Stop it!" Miu jerked her arm away hard, her voice wobbling with fright, and maybe some horrible dawning recognition of the fact that he had  _cared_ , "D-Don't touch me-!"

She ran away with all the same panic and terror she'd felt when she was alone on the third floor.

She had enough on her mind without one more person to risk forming attachments with.

Why did she feel like she was going to cry again?

_For fuck's sakes. What kind of virgin would turn down a creation of mine like it was nothing, and then fuck around with my heart by doing something like that? Fuck that. Fuck that noise._

The latter was somewhat more forgivable: at least when  _Kokichi_ fucked with her heart he tended to fuck with more than just that.

_I just wanted to see him try one bite..._

She'd poured her heart and soul into that pie and Shuichi wouldn't even touch it, just cause of a little hair?  _Captain_  virgin of all virgins, if he's scared of one hair. He wouldn't last a chance going down on any girl, let alone a gorgeous woman like her with a godly rack, child-bearing hips, and legs going on for forever and a day!

Her heart ached a little less after mentally eviscerating his character and pumping herself back up. It ached a lot less when she realized she'd slowed to a stop in the doorway of the warehouse. Seeing the place stacked floor to ceiling with shit to mess around with managed to bring a watery half-smile back to her face.

She was happy. She...was happy, but...

The kind of nostalgia seeing it all evoked was something that felt so far away to her, in this place.

_Is there really...anything I can build to bring myself closer to it? Closer to the moment that I can get out of here and do what I need to?_

She never used to doubt herself like this. She found herself thinking of the computer on the third floor again, and wondering if she weren't wasting her time by being here-

_How can I think like that? If I'm not here to invent or to try, what the fresh fuck am I even doing?!_

She just needed to do something. Anything, to shut up the endless questions in her head.

Near the sports equipment, she spotted some hung-up clothes, and helped herself to a white tank top and a pair of khaki shorts before moving on to pile a box full of parts to bring back to her lab.

 _If I'm gonna really take it serious today, the last thing I'm gonna do is die to some lame-ass heat exhaustion._ She thought to herself on the way back, her mind already on at least four different tracks with invention ideas.

_...And if Kokichi can't keep his eyes or his hands off me when I'm going the extra mile to give him an eyeful, that wouldn't exactly devastate me either._

...

He could feel the heat radiating from her lab so strongly that even the door handle was warm to the touch as he turned it and pushed it open.

Kokichi knew he needn't knock. If by some chance he did catch her in a state of undress or worse, she'd undoubtedly be thrilled anyways.

And with the mysterious phrasing Kiibo had given him when he'd shown up at Kokichi's door earlier on-

_"Could I...ask that you check on Miu today? There seems to be something occupying her, but...I believe I made her upset last night. I do not wish to pressure her or incite unpleasant emotions in her."_

-catching her off-guard would be to his benefit, if he wanted to see her free of any facade she may have erected.

He smirked when he laid eyes on her, laid out on her back underneath some crazy machinery. Cranking sounds emanated from beneath it in time with the twisting of her arms. Perspiration soaked the front of her tank top to the point where he didn't need to wonder if she'd foregone wearing a bra. His eyes followed the bend of her knees to the shorts clinging so high to her legs that he could see her lacy underwear through a keyhole of fabric that had shifted.

She didn't notice his arrival. And while she'd perhaps planned the outfit, he could tell that the borderline voyeuristic view he was receiving was unintentional, from how intensely she was focused.

It was  _so_  much better when she didn't try.

He caught notice of the device above her, its glass panels shielding a golden-brown pie. Kokichi walked closer. She didn't notice him even when he came to a stop with his feet on either side of her waist.

"Hey Miu, what is this?" He drummed his fingers against the glass and giggled as she jolted and cried out in pain, no doubt having sat up and knocked her forehead into hard metal.

"Fuckin'-!  _Ouch_! That hurt, shrimp-dick!" She crawled her way out from underneath the machinery, one bandaged hand clasped against her forehead as she tried to muster a glare. Its effectiveness was thoroughly neutered by the tears she was wincing through, and the blush smattering her cheeks as he merely grinned and waved down at the sight of her framed between his legs. Miu elbowed his leg and he stepped aside. She hauled herself to her feet and dusted her hands off, placing them proudly on her hips. "This is my latest stroke of genius! It keeps your food looking and tasting as good and as warm as the moment you made it!"

"Aww, Miu. I don't know how to tell you this, but-" Kokichi frowned gravely, "-the oven? Already been invented."

 _Bullseye_. He could  _hear_  her gnashing her teeth, and her outrageously offended expression was to die for.

"H-Hey! This ain't an oven! This is special!"

"What is it then? Boxes have been invented too. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."

"Ugh, shut up and I'll tell you! It's...uh. The name is...pending, but! It doesn't dehydrate it or ruin the texture or anything, it really works! Do you...wanna try for yourself?" Her rage at her invention being likened to a box fell to barely a simmer when she opened the front panel and pulled the pie out to hand it to him. In fact, she looked rather subdued suddenly.

He had a pretty good idea why, too.

"Wow, this looks good! What's wrong with it?"

"Hhhiiieee?! Wh-What do you mean? I put my heart and soul into that-"

"-And if namby-pamby, super polite  _Shuichi_  went through the trouble of returning it to you without trying it, you must've put a little more than that into it, huh Miu?"

Her expression absolutely deflated, she folded her arms and started toying with her hair-a strand that, upon closer inspection, seemed to end in an unnaturally straight edge.

"H-How did you...?"

"I occasionally do a little Spyhara on the Saihara. Especially if his attention is on something of  _mine_. How about it? Did you garnish this with your pubes or something perverted like that? Well, whatever. Not like that's something I won't be getting a mouthful of sooner or later anyways."

Miu's face was positively glowing under the sheen of perspiration, her eyes misting up eagerly. "D-Does that mean-?"

"That I'll try a bite? Certainly, princess. But..." He put a playful finger against his lips, "-you have to make me one of my own, just for me! I don't want any of Shuichi's hand-me-down  _sloppy seconds_."

"Y-Yes sir!" She grinned meekly at the floor, still stealing wildly juvenile longing glances at him between nervous giggles. "I-I'll make you whatever you like."

...It  _definitely_  wasn't cute of her. Nope. No way.

"Glad to hear it! Because before we get to that...there's some other stuff I need your help making first!"

...

Miu was impressed: his sketches were cleaner than hers, though to be fair she didn't exactly make sketches often.

She almost praised his work out loud, so euphoric she was at the thought that he'd actually be willing to try her cooking. He really didn't weigh much at all, if the barely-there sensation of his head resting on her ass were any indication. She'd laid out on her stomach to get more comfortable while reading his annotations, and he'd followed suit, casual and strangely familiar as ever as he'd gotten comfortable on her. Miu wondered absently whether he was eating enough.

"The bug vacuum isn't as big of a deal as the others." Kokichi talked while balancing a parts manual against his leg, another of his sketches laid over the top of it so he could scribble more notes in its margin, "Will the EMPs give you much trouble? I know the hammers have-"

"-Yeah, the charging issue. The only trouble I'm forseeing with the hammers is the potential for them to drain their charges too quickly if they're not used carefully. Bigger devices will use it up much faster. For the EMPs...we don't know exactly what frequency the electronics work on here-"

"-Then what about a wave-particle dispersion? That should catch most devices, right?"

"-True."

It was really nice to speak to someone with a background in at least the basics. What exactly did he do as an 'ultimate supreme leader' anyway? There was so much about him that she didn't understand.

_Like how he'd ever get to be such a damn good kisser?_

Oh, god. Did he have...experience?

She could always check with the Hookup Counter...

Her cheeks burned and she terminated the line of thought, lest she get too distracted.

They rolled ideas off of one another easily and sometimes he mentioned a solution so simple that she was sure she'd have passed it over thinking of something more complicated. The rhythm of their conversation carried on with a comfortable sense of sincerity as they pooled their thoughts: they finished one another's sentences and it all felt somehow as though they'd done exactly this a thousand times before.

"The only thing I want to make sure of is to at least set the strength of it a little below what could potentially mess with Kiibs. He's pretty well-designed, so that doesn't mean these puppies will be  _weak_  by any means, but I can't let anything happen because I was being careless."

"Fair enough. Even if he was built by the best of the best, it won't mean a thing if you fry him by accident, I suppose."

Miu ignored the feeling that he was yet again leaving something unsaid and continued her work.

...

_A girl his age had arrived that day._

_Shy and quiet, already in trouble._

_Disgust feasted on his spine as he watched a man old enough to be her father twice-over come to see her, draping a thick, hairy arm around her trembling shoulders, pulling her close enough to nearly shift her into his lap with a wet laugh._

_She can't be older than ten._

_What a fucking_ animal.

_Possibilities crowded his mind: he knew what a corrupt shithole this was. He already knew it wasn't above selling kids to a guild of murderers to keep the cash flowing-none of which was seen by any of the orphanage's wards._

_Had they stooped to selling...more than that?_

_Her face was so pained: her eyes seemed to quiver as she took in her surroundings, and when she stared at the floor it looked an awful lot like she were wishing the creaky floorboards would peel apart, open up beneath her like teeth and tear her away from the monster pawing all over her, his slimy fingers bubbling and oozing in grotesque excitement at the soft, tender young thing he'd taken captive._

_He was too weak to save anyone from this place: already, he'd seen the only person he'd looked up to in this dump disappear, and it didn't take much connecting of the dots to realize she hadn't been adopted by a traditional family. With her gone, he could barely save himself. Blurred yellow bruises fading under his cheeks and fragile joints had only just begun to heal, but he knew he'd have them back in full bloom by the end of the week._

_Maybe sooner than that. Because try as he might to remind himself that it would be better to keep his head down, stay quiet, stay silent, not get involved-_

_He longed to help the girl suffering right in front of him._

...

She'd caught on to the reality that he'd fallen asleep by the lack of demeaning banter slung her way. A peek over her shoulder confirmed it.

His sleep looked troubled, and even though the fitful twist of his mouth admittedly gave her some morose pleasure to look at, she felt a little guilty-

-for taking advantage, as she'd already pointed the Hookup Counter his way, her finger hovering anxiously over the trigger.

...

It wasn't like him to doze off, but here he was, waking up under the garish lights illuminating Miu's lab. Kokichi was cheek to cheek with her, but not in the traditional sense.

"Are you awake yet, sleeping beauty? My ass is falling asleep, you really-!"

She cut off with a shrill scream as he turned and bit her through her shorts.

"Y-You just!? You just  _bit my ass_!? What the-!? Wh-What the goddamn jesus fuck was  _that_ for you fucking little shit?! I-I'll kill you!" Miu talked big, but she was a sniveling wreck as she writhed and moaned into the floor.

It wasn't unusual of her to be such a wimp, but he expected a lascivious comment as a chaser for the profanity.

_She's hiding something._

"Awww, sorry Miu! I thought that would wake it up. I thought you had an ass that didn't quit, but I guess even a gorgeous girl genius has her limits." Kokichi sat up, flashing his dimples in a radiant grin. "So did that work?"

"N-No! No it fucking didn't-!  _Aaaaaaahhhh_ -!" Miu yelped, tears springing to her eyes as his palm slapped her hard where he'd bitten just moments before.

"...How about that? A little closer to the mark?" He leaned over her body, framing her face-down against the floor as his palm idly massaged the sting. Drool oozed from her pouting lips as she tilted her chin to one side. "Or...maybe that's not nearly enough for you? Have you been  _bad_ , Miu?"

Kokichi watched as her eyes flickered towards...what  _was_ that? He reached for it, and she did too, but he was faster.

"Oh, what's this?" He inspected it briefly and raised an eyebrow. "A Hookup Counter, huh? Awww, Miu, that's the worst. If you were so curious about my  _one and only_  sexual experience, you could have paid a little more attention as it was happening! Relying on a cheap trick like this while I'm sleeping..." He whined, "-that's totally disappointing, y'know?"

"I...I didn't."

"...Hmmm?"

"It's...it's like you said. I felt guilty, so I figured I'd just wait 'till you woke up to ask you. Especially since...you..."

She trailed off, and somehow Kokichi was glad she didn't complete her thought.

"...but I swear, I didn't use it. I...didn't know."

An annoyed silence was all she received for a few moments.

"You know, Miu, feeling guilty like that at such a critical moment could get you into trouble. You really shouldn't be so reckless. Sometimes you  _have_  to play dirty."

"I...I'm sorry-" She murmured, and he shrugged.

"I don't get why you're apologizing. I'm not mad that you know. It was my fault for slipping up 'cause I assumed the worst of you. Besides, a device like this-" He pushed it away across the floor, "-can't really account for everything. Even if it wasn't just made up of all your depraved parameters...I doubt it could count things like the times things  _almost_  happened; which are arguably _much_ more interesting stories."

Miu swallowed hard as he leaned close to her ear.

"Things like...what happened in your room yesterday, right?"

"Hhhnh..."

Her lashes hovered half-mast, her eyes dark and hooded, and before fully realizing what he was doing, he'd pulled at a shoulder until she rolled easily onto her back, muttering against her lips as she regarded him with mute surprise, lust, hastily buried.

"-things like what we're doing-" A stolen kiss, to test the waters, "- _right now_."

"...Mmhm..."

"I left you in a bad way yesterday, didn't I?" Miu's breath creaked as she nodded in reply. "You thought I'd be easy dick for a baseless, morally bankrupt  _slut_  like you?" She whined pathetically as he drew back, stood up, and seated himself on her lab bench. He watched her sit up on her knees in front of him, shifting her legs together. She flinched with an anticipatory quiver as he cupped her chin and tilted it up, but did not resist in the slightest: if anything, she arched her neck towards his touch, eager to be lead by the nose as ever. She swallowed into his splayed fingers and the motion went straight to his cock in the way of a throat-hungry twitch.

He nudged the toe of his shoe between her thighs, which spread with no additional coaxing.

"You  _wanted_  something to happen today, didn't you?" Kokichi's voice was a low, conspiratorial whisper as he balanced her core on his shoe, easing slowly up and down against her. She gasped and sank forward, resting a cheek on his knee, her arms draped uselessly over the bench on either side of him. He passed his fingers through her hair, admired the goosebumps raising along her neck and the back of her shoulders, the way her eyes glazed over like she were a thousand leagues away. "Did you think this'd be it? That you'd be getting off from me shoving my  _foot_  of all things between your legs? Nee-heehee...Hey, Miu. You're drooling  _already_ , huh? Do I really affect you so deeply, or are you just excited being so close to what you've been after since yesterday? Don't think for a moment that you didn't positively  _reek_  like you'd tried to do something about it on your own." He cupped her chin with both hands and lifted her face to where he could see it, making her lift off her knees just slightly. "Or is it some combination of the two? Are you getting so attached to our little game that you're falling for a villainous, awful guy like me?"

"I-I could say the same to you-" Miu's cheeks burned with indignation, but her eyes were still glassy, deep in sub-space as she was, "-you're getting off on this too-so it's not like I'm any less a freak than you are-"

Kokichi leveled his expression as her eyes glanced down, and he did the same. He could see straight down her cleavage as she breathed hard, her chest flush against the tent in his pants. He braced his hands on her shoulders and pushed her back into place on her knees. A hand ghosted down to twist the hem of her tank top in his fingers, and he dragged it upwards. She didn't stop him. As the fabric passed her navel, the slopes of black lace clinging to her hips well above her shorts drew his eye for a moment, gave his cock another painful, yearning throb that made his breath shorten.

"Open your mouth."

Her lips parted and he dragged the fabric higher, slowly over the weight of her breasts, watching them drop out of her shirt as he pushed the hem into her mouth.

"Keep that in your mouth and put your arms behind your back," he intoned with as level a voice as he could, "until I say otherwise. Or this is over."

She gazed up at him with that same hazy adoration as she whimpered around her makeshift gag, following his instructions and sitting up straight.

"Nee-heehee, how obedient you're being. Even though you're not wearing a bra...you're totally shameless, aren't you?" His foot flexed idly between her legs and she grimaced blissfully. "I mean, it was obvious you were something of an exhibitionist with how quick you were to rip your clothes off in front of Gonta, but I didn't realize you'd put on something so...pedestrian just to make it easier for me to get my hands on you." He continued casually, as if she weren't half-naked on her knees in front of him.

"...Mmmhhff..."

The look on her face was just begging him to touch her.

"I mean, that is what you did, right? You're so desperate for some rough attention, aren't you? I don't even have to touch you nicely, so long as you can get your cunt wet. Not long now, huh...?" Kokichi stirred his foot in a small circle into her heat.

Miu said nothing, but she was far from silent: her entire body was quivering, her eyes were tearing up, and she moaned loudly around the gag, drool flowing out of her mouth and dripping down to ooze slowly over her breasts.

She was quite a sight, like this. Whatever pride she'd been holding onto was long forgotten.

"If you're honest with me, maybe I can reward you.  _Maybe_. So how about it? You want me to play a little harder with you? Can you even handle that much?"

Her head nodded as if the action came to her automatically-an affirmation and an emphatic plea in one. Huge blue eyes sought his, longing and desperate and wet, her eyelashes long and dark.

He was a good liar, but not enough of one to deny to himself that seeing her like this was affecting him.

Slowly, he thumbed circles on her soft areola, the rest of his fingers fanning to squeeze her chest. A strained squeak nearly made her drop the edge of her shirt from her lips.

"Are you sure? I'm barely touching you and you're already at the end of your rope. Buuut...I suppose I should trust you, huh?" A hint of something genuine laced the remark. She tilted her head, cautious and somehow looking less comfortable now than she did when he tore her down with caustic nonchalance. He forced a smile and pushed his intrusive thoughts down.

"Well, no take-backs,  _princess_."

His thumbs and forefingers pressed around each of her nipples, tugging them with a firm squeeze.

"Gghhhkk-!"

A tortured gasp burst from her lips before she quickly closed her mouth again, catching the hem of her top by quite literally the skin of her teeth.

The look in her eyes could give Maki's murderous glare a run for her money, right now.

"Oops. Did that  _hurt_?" He cooed, pressing the backs of his fingers into her flesh, pinning her nipples between his first and middle fingers, then rolling the pad of his thumb over them, pressing them in, pulling them, squeezing them again. "Too bad you don't have clamps, 'cause then I could do this with one hand-" He gave the slightest twist of his wrist and she reacted as though it were her spine between his fingertips instead, "-and who knows what kind of fun I could be having right now with a free hand. You'll just have to work that much harder for me. So go ahead. I know you've gotta be desperate by now." Kokichi unzipped his pants and freed his erection, watched her eyes follow its slight bob of anticipation, "You've got two hands: one for you, and one for me. Be a good girl and maybe you can have a lick, too."

He drew his foot back, and from the way she was staring, he had a feeling she wanted to wrap both her hands and her mouth around it immediately, but she seemed to fight down her impulses when he leveled a warning gaze into her eyes. She closed her fingers around the length and pumped, smearing the pre-cum from his slit with her thumb and passing it along the entire shaft, back and forth. Her efforts were rewarded with an immediate groan as he twitched into her hand. Only when he was entirely slick from base to tip in her palm did she twist her other hand down the front of her body, fingers curling in on herself beneath her underwear with a lurid moan.

Seeing her try so hard to keep hold of her gag just made him want to make her drop it. To watch how she'd drool all over herself. Just for him.

"Hey, cumslut-" Miu tore her eyes away from his dick to look up, an unspoken  _yes sir?_  shining in her lost blues, "-let's get married!"

A beat. Her jaw dropped open and the hem of her top fell limply from her pouted lips, her eyes glassy and unfocused.

"...H-Huh...?!"

"A supreme leader with a gorgeous mad scientist inventor for a wife-sounds good, right?"

Like almost everything else, it had started as a joke.

But even she wasn't dense enough to miss that what they were doing together, their ostensibly friends (or enemies?) with benefits arrangement was perhaps maybe never really only that.

He watched her eyes for the dawning of that reality, how the truth made her so terribly frightened of him-

"H-Hey-" She croaked, "-wh-what...are you...?"

"Oh shut  _up_ -" He sighed, throwing his head back, "-why do you take everything I say so seriously? Hurry and just suck me off already. Before I get even more bored." He cupped her cheek, thumbing a stroke in an arc down the side of her jaw before threading his fingers back into her hair. "Since you can't seem to keep anything else in your mouth, y'know? But failing to do that much was meant to be punished, so don't expect it to be so easy. You're still at  _my_ mercy-" Kokichi held her chin with his other hand, passing his thumb over her bruised bottom lip, "-no matter how good you are with this mouth of yours when you finally close it."

-lies were so much more comforting, that way.

His body couldn't lie when Miu Iruma knelt before him, let him humiliate and demean her. His body couldn't lie when Miu Iruma leaned her cheek on his knee and let him pet her hair, behaving as though his very presence was her drug of choice. His body couldn't lie when Miu Iruma had glared at him with such candid, rare spite.

His body certainly did not start lying for him when Miu Iruma parted her lips and slid the length of her tongue along the underside of his cock, taking his shaft completely into her mouth like it was second nature.

Kokichi moaned behind closed lips and clutched the fingers of both hands through her honey blonde hair, pulling himself into her throat. Greedy, greedy. His fingers were tense with each back and forth motion of her head, the grateful, adoring look in her eyes as she moaned around him carving deeper into his heart with each passing moment. She sat up higher and braced her arms on the bench to get closer, and in the instant her lips parted as she sucked in a breath to continue, his cum stretched obscenely between her tongue and the roof of her mouth.

"Come here-" He whispered huskily, pulled her by the back of her head and held her down on his cock to the hilt, feeling himself twitch from the direct contact with her throat, the vibration of the moan that enveloped it. Miu's hands braced themselves on his hips, her nails clawing for purchase in his shirt at the small of his back as tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

 _That_  sensation felt  _far_  too close to a forgotten, found-again memory for comfort.

Could she feel it, too?

Could she feel that it affected him in a way that her  _blowing_  him didn't?

They weren't kids anymore.

It was his job to remember, hers to forget, again and again.

He sank forward and wrapped his arms around her head, embracing it, embracing her as she gave a muffled whimper from around him, and finished off into her throat as his lips pressed into the crown of her head. His body was shaking, and he could feel every little thing as she swallowed from around him and gasped away from his cock, let him suffocate her moans into his chest with rigid arms and white-knuckled fingers buried in her hair.

His first time alone with her, and he'd blown it within two minutes of her mouth around him and left her a soaking mess in her shorts.

Was that love, by his standards? He was so tired of thinking about it.

"H-Hey...Kokichi...?" Miu huffed into his abdomen, choosing her words slowly, "Y-You're...holding me r-r-really tight...did-did I-um...make you feel g-good?" Her voice lilted hopefully.

_More than she could ever know, short-lived as it was._

He hummed in mock thought, tapping a finger to his chin as his other hand stroked idly through her hair.

"Well. I  _guess_."

"Wh-What...? H-Hey, what the fuck?!" Clearly outraged, Miu pounded a fist into his chest, her face hot. "I'm good enough to nut in but not enough to praise a little?! God,  _fuck_  you-" Her words lost steam as it became clear he wasn't going to let go of her yet.

"As a matter of fact...there's a lot more about you I want to praise." Kokichi stood, tugged her to her feet, whipped her around and shoved her into his spot on the lab bench-

-Kiibo's spot, rather.

"A-Aahh..." Miu's spitfire rebuttals evaporated instantly as he reclined her onto the bench with a firm shove. His fingers deftly unbuttoned and unzipped the front of her shorts. An obvious moan caught in her throat, her hips jerking up to meet his hand as he plunged it down to ply at the soaked fabric of her panties, rolled his thumb along her clit and sank three fingers home. Miu threw her head back with a cry and he had to bite his lip raw at the sight, to hide the response his body wanted to give.

"-Just like a fish on a hook, huh?" He breathed, beckoned with his fingers from inside of her, and her back arched along with the slicked digits.

"Hhhhiiiiee-! Y- _yeah_ -" She barely managed to moan the words.

"You want to cum around my  _fingers_ -" Kokichi purred cruelly, articulating his words with rough pumps, "-like the  _stupid, helpless, slut_ you are-?"

"Y-Y-Y- _Yes_ -" She choked out, "-yes, please,  _please_ -"

"-too bad."

He removed his fingers one by one and wiped them on her shorts. Without bothering to explain himself as she balked in confusion, agony, and teary-eyed rage, he grabbed the waist of her shorts from either side and got them halfway down her thighs in a single tug.

"Wh-What...? H-Hey, what are you doing...?" Miu reached and grabbed feebly at his wrists, and he looked up, meeting her eyes with surprise. "I-I thought...you said-"

"...Oh, that? I changed my mind. I don't want you to cum around my  _fingers_."

At her completely blank stare devoid of comprehension, he simply raised his fingers into a 'V' shape under his chin and smiled cherubically. Miu  _froze_.

"...You serious?"

"Is it so hard to believe?" He countered, sliding his hands up her thighs and twisting his fingers into the waistband of her underwear, "Come on, let me see-"

"W-Wait-!"

Again, her hands grabbed at his, her face a brilliant shade of red as she breathed hard.

"What's wrong? Afraid I'll find out you aren't a natural blonde? Hiding things from a liar is pointless, you're in good company-"

"N-No it's not that-" Miu swallowed hard, trembling, "-c-can we do it somewhere else-? B-Being in this chair makes me f-feel like...like I'm under a microscope or something, I can't take it-"

"Sheesh, fine!" Kokichi chided playfully, easing back from her before she could retreat any further into her thoughts. "Pull yourself together and we'll finish this in your room."

That little twinge he felt, watching her scramble off the bench and hastily drag her shorts back up with that scared-animal look in her eyes was just his conscience.

...

"Do you like that, Miu...?"

She heard his voice like she was underwater and nodded slowly at the headrest of her bed behind her in her delirium, barely conscious enough to keep consenting to him. The air between her legs had been unbearably damp and cold as they left the lab for her room, but his tongue was hot enough to make her feel like she was melting on its tip as it laved a path up between her legs and pinned her clit with strokes that were eager, slow.

_"So you are a natural. Color me surprised." He'd said, with no change in expression whatsoever._

_"Y-You're really serious about this, huh...?" She'd mumbled, awestruck and bewildered as he'd trailed a finger down into the waistband of her panties for the second time, through a nest of wiry blonde curls, fingers ghosting over her then-unmarked inner thighs until the strip of lace and silk was far enough down her legs to be lost off her ankles as he bent her legs open._

_"I know you have trouble trusting the tongue of a liar," He'd purred into the crease where her thigh met her hips, his mouth hovering ever closer to her body's center, "but maybe I could get you to love it instead."_

He gazed up at her from between her thighs, streaked with violet patches that rivaled the color of his irises, and hummed against her as he let her essence stretch from between her body and his tongue, his chin, lips, cheeks, all shining with her.

"Miu, there's so  _much_ -are you sure it's all yours? You do  _bathe_  in-between, right?"

She couldn't see his face, but she could hear him smiling, knew she didn't need to dignify that question with a response: but he was waiting for an answer and she missed his tongue more with each passing moment.

"Mmmhhmm-" She whimpered, fumbling her hands downward until she found his hair, curled her fingers in and  _pulled_. His eyes darted up to meet hers as his tongue spread forward inside of her, lapping eagerly at the feast before him. Kokichi's lips felt softer than any boy's should, and at any other moment in time it would have pissed her off, but the inclination to protest the fairness of it slipped by the wayside as they kissed over her clit and nestled against her entrance as his tongue wriggled deeper.

He wrested her fingers from his hair and clasped his fingers and palms with hers tightly as he all but dragged her body towards his mouth.

"Aaaah  _fuck_ -" Miu crooned softly, her voice breaking.  _God_ , she felt like she was about to cry-

-and judging from the way he looked at her, that was exactly what he wanted her to do.  _Go ahead and cry, you desperate piece of fuckmeat_ , his eyes seemed to be telling her.

She didn't even want to fight anymore. She wanted him to skewer her with his tongue, both figuratively and literally. She wanted to fall apart like a virgin during their first time and for him to want the sides of her she didn't show anyone.

He drew back to take a breath, then spat on her clit and buried his tongue up from under it with a low, rumbling moan that coursed through her like lightning, setting her limbs into paralysis as her muscles trembled, warm static filling her head. The aftershock of her orgasm came in waves as she watched him sit up and wipe his mouth on the back of his hand, never taking his eyes off hers. Kokichi caressed the mess clinging to his fingers across her cheek, smirking as she leaned blindly into it.

" _Cumrag_." His smile was heartbreakingly affectionate. She blinked back up at him, breath catching in her throat.

_-I fucking love him._

She giggled airily as he kissed a path up her opposite cheek. It was only when he stopped at the corner of her eye that she realized how raw the skin felt.

That she realized her eyes were watering over relentlessly.

So. She'd cried during sex. Not exactly the first time, but certainly the first time like this. With Kiibo he always got her tuned in with her emotions and she could tell it was coming, was always keenly aware of just how much of her heart was on her sleeve when it came to him. It was completely mutual.

Kokichi completely blindsided her with her feelings and his comprehension of them.

She had to remind herself that he was a liar. She needed to reassure herself that this wasn't real, couldn't be real, because he'd said as much himself every single time he justified his jokes and teasing with those words,  _I'm a liar_ , and if he actually managed to break her heart then she'd be solely responsible for allowing it to happen, for inviting him to do it no less.

But even so, the tiny, hopeful voice in the back of her mind seeded doubt in the her that doubted him, that wanted to keep even just one wall standing-

_-This is a little too far to go for a joke, isn't it?_

"H-Hey. Kokichi."

"Pillow talk already, princess? I'm listening." He cooed against her temple and draped his arms in a lazy embrace on either side of hers, curling into her side and hanging off her body like a cat.

"Tell me about your first kiss."

"...Hmmm?" His lips tilted with the margin of a grin. "You mean you don't remember it?"

"Oh come on, no one learns to kiss like that from nowhere, even if you've read a book like  _So Lingers the Ocean_  cover to cover!"

"Miu Iruma!...Are you saying you're a fan of those sorts of novels? I wouldn't have taken you for the type, but-"

"Tch, If you're just gonna stall then forget it."

She rolled onto her side and figured that was all she'd get out of him, but his breath warmed the shell of her ear with a mocking, over-the-top sigh.

"Aww, no need to go cold on me. Wait here and I'll bring you a hint!"

"H-Hey-!"

_Oh, why am I even bothering? Just let him go and pray he never comes back! That's the best thing that could happen._

She pulled on some clean underwear and sat on the bed.

And she waited for him.

With absolutely no expectations, and then-

-the part of herself that trusted him to come back started worrying.

A minute passed.

She hugged her knees to her chest.

Two minutes.

_Did something...happen?_

Her eyes stayed frozen on the door as her mind raced with possibilities, and then just before her panic could crest, the door opened and he stepped inside.

"Sorry about the wait, my room is kind of a mess!" Something was tucked under his arm, but all she could focus on was the sound of his voice, and the smile on his face as he nestled beside her in bed again, liberating her from her terror as she swallowed, mouth dry. "Didja miss me? Or were you kinda hoping I'd stay away-"

Miu reached out, vacant eyes trained on his lips as she pressed him down and tilted her mouth against his. It was nothing heated or crazed or titillating-it wasn't much of anything at all, and the nebulous nature of the silence between the purity of the contact alone, the way he blinked quickly a few times as though for once, she'd really actually stolen his breath made the sound of their lips parting from one another echo in her heart in a way she hadn't felt before, and watching his half-open mouth twist into a blank line as a foreign red tinge stole up his cheeks gave her the feeling he'd experienced the same thing.

"...No." She mouthed, not clarifying which of his questions she was answering. She didn't need to. The marginal crease in his brow and the sidelong glance of his eyes paired with the heat from his cheeks told her that even if he didn't know why she felt the way she did, he at least knew exactly what was in her heart as she hovered over him and looked at him like she was afraid he was an apparition that would fade from view and leave her alone with her fears.

The tortured silence, stretched to its limits, collapsed as Kokichi laughed and pushed her face away with a warm palm.

"Nee-heehee!...Well. You wanna see the hint, or what?"

He sat up, the tension diffused. Back to normal.

She finally registered that the object that had been tucked under his arm was a Kubz Pad. He powered it on and she could scarcely believe her eyes as his name illuminated the display.

_"Alright! Back by popular demand, it's time for the motive video!"_

Miu's mouth opened and she stole a glance at him: he wasn't looking at her, and the faraway look in his eyes suggested that he wasn't really watching the video either.

_"Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader..."_

There was no mistaking him. Surrounding him were people that didn't seem like their lives would intersect naturally, and yet an aura seemed to emanate from their group, a feeling of strong camaraderie just from looking at them.

_"...Kokichi had ten loyal goons working for him. These goons were like friends and family..."_

_"The most important people in his life..."_

The screen faded to black, and when the picture came back, Miu let out a gasp. They were battered, some of them bleeding, all of them locked in a cage.

_...All of them?_

_"But then, a terrible event befell those precious people..."_

Whatever desensitization to violence she'd possibly developed being in this place aside, she could still feel their pain of being captive as though it were her own.

She watched silently until the end, eyes scanning over each and every one of his friends, seeking whatever hint he'd been speaking of, wondering if one of these people had been the one to share in his first kiss, wondering what in the world she was supposed to infer from so little information-

And then she saw it. Or rather, it was what she did not see that made the realization finally dawn on her.

"...She's not here."

Kokichi looked at her, then, not with the glazed look in his eyes from moments before, but with knowing intrigue, encouraging her to continue.

"The video said...you had ten people working as part of your group. Working  _for_  you, so that means there should be ten people with you-" She looked him straight in the eyes.

"-so, why are there only  _nine_  people standing beside you in this video? There's...another member of D.I.C.E., isn't there? And she's..."

"That's right! The co-founder of D.I.C.E.-and the recipient of Kokichi Ouma's very first kiss! I suppose...I've got to tell you about it now, huh?"

Miu opened her mouth, then closed it again with a disappointed scowl. She should've been happy to be getting her answers, but...what had it meant to him, for him to so readily reveal such things with so much cheer, when there was no way for him to know whatever fate had befallen her?

"You  _do_  still wanna hear it, right? Oh, but-I wouldn't want you getting  _jealous_  over me or anything after all this quality time we've spent together. If you can't handle this kind of story-"

"I-It's fine!" She  _knew_  it was bait, but she couldn't help wanting to know, even if it was less about who it'd been and more about how he felt. He didn't have to know that.

"Then get cozy-" Kokichi leaned back into the pillows, gesturing for her to do the same, "-and I'll tell you."

She drew closer, leaning a cheek on his shoulder slowly, relaxing as he rest his head against hers.

"I met her eight years ago. The two of us happened to be prisoners in the same castle. An entire castle made entirely of dungeons, for unwanted children to go. I had been there for longer, since I was very small, but she arrived after an accident took away both of her parents at once, and even then, only after waking from near-death herself. I didn't know her, but somehow I knew I wanted to. She was a pushover, and cried easily, but she was smarter than anyone I'd ever met. Well...book-smart, that is. All the stuff she knew how to do couldn't help her against the nasty ogres that kept her captive and tried to get her alone with them, just because she was really pretty, too."

"Smart and pretty?" Miu huffed into his shoulder, "Sounds like someone's got a type."

"Maybe so. But anyway, that's where I came in. They'd try to get their hands on her and I'd very quietly run interference with a few well-played pranks. I'd never tried anything like that before. But I wanted to help her. And it turned out I had a knack for it. When she found out what I was doing, and why...we started to spend all the time we could together. With my creativity and her genius, we devised some of the most fantastic tricks and elaborate pranks ever. Even when it drew in new friends, the two of us were completely inseparable, even as years passed and we got a little too old to be playing 'house'."

Miu listened, her eyes closing as she took in his words. Whether it was more disappointing or exciting that the sort of tension in his story came from somewhere completely unerotic in nature, she couldn't say.

"One night, she burst into my room and begged me to hide her. I knew from the look on her face that I didn't have any time to ask questions, so all I could do was hide her under my bed covers with me. We barely had time to manage even that much before one of the disgusting ogres came in to look for her."

"What did you do?"

"What else? I lied, of course."

...

_"It's me, lemme in, please-!"_

_"W-What's wrong? Are you okay-?"_

_"Hide me! Anywhere!"_

_Footsteps were echoing fast down the hall. They tumbled into the bed, a mess of puberty and hormones caged in a threadbare, dingy sheet and a worn comforter. Two heartbeats frantically resonating as the door slammed open in time with her disappearing below the covers, grasping around his waist, biting her lip raw as she tried not to cry out. Him, dizzy with fear, burying fingers in her hair, trying to ignore how her humid breath against his stomach seemed to seep straight through his abdomen through the thin cotton of his shirt and send butterflies clogging his throat._

_All in the same moment, the door slammed open on its rusted hinges and the orphange's warden trained his eyes on Kokichi._

_"Where is she?"_

_"Where's who?"_

_"Don't play dumb you little shit, I heard voices and you're certainly not sleeping-!"_

_Kokichi blurted out, "If my pitching a falsetto to pitch a tent is that big a deal, I'll keep it down, jeez!" The warden stared back blankly. "Visiting Rosy Palms? Hand to gland combat?...Making stomach pancakes, do you get it yet-? Because I'm jerking off-!"_

_"Y-Yeah, christ, I got you the first time!"_

_"Then get out, I wanna finish up in peace!"_

_He took a risk and lifted the sheet to feign a glance at his lap and she held her breath, eyes wide as she hugged herself closer to his waist. Kokichi flopped against the pillows and puffed out his cheeks with a sigh. "Aww, you totally killed the mood, thanks a lot! I can't keep it up anymore with you looking at me-don't you prefer girls anyway-?"_

_The second lie of the night; but he hoped that his unexpected bunkmate didn't take offense to the fact that his body was having a physiological response to having hers pressed against him. When her pursuer made his awkward exit and closed the door, Kokichi was quick to lift the sheet so she could finally take more than the claustrophobic, shallow breaths she'd been sustaining herself on._

_"He...he tried to...he tried to-" She sat up and wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, "...sh-shit-"_

_"Did he hurt you?"_

_"Not the way he wanted to."_

_Kokichi very slowly reached his hand towards her cheek with a caution that was, unfortunately, becoming more and more familiar to them, and she leaned into his palm; but not before he glimpsed the blurred bruise rising to the surface of her skin. She winced with obvious pain and he inhaled her name as she slid her body against his, a useless warning dying on his lips as she closed the space, quickly and quietly. Hopelessly distressed by the response his body couldn't help but give, he gasped uncharacteristically unconfident apologies against her lips, desperate to spare her from any more humiliation that night when she'd sought sanctuary in him._

_"I-It's fine. I...like you, Kokichi. And...you like me too, right...? If I'm going to make anyone feel like that...I_ want _it to be you." She closed her eyes and touched their foreheads together, "So...y-you can kiss me, too-" Her breath caught and her voice cracked, "-until I'm not too scared to-to give you something that's actually worth something-"_

_"So are you saying...I can only kiss you this once?"_

_He'd been trying to get her to smile._

_He hadn't expected her to cry._

_But they weren't kids anymore, and in their personal hell, nothing seemed to make sense aside from the way they felt about one another._

...

Miu was slouched against him, nearly completely unconscious by the end of the story. Kokichi's fingers drifting idly through her hair likely had something to do with it. He didn't need to wait long after finishing before her breathing evened out, her chin tilted towards her chest, and her cheek plumped against his shoulder in slumber.

He brought his thumb across the arc of her cheekbone the way he had years ago.

"I lied a little." Kokichi admitted to ears deafened by sleep, "I already knew you didn't remember it."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for waiting so patiently! I'm really happy to finally share this after the three months I spent toiling on it. All three of them are so fun to write and I'm thrilled to be dropping the big plot points in here just to set off my atom bomb of feels I have in store for the next few chapters.
> 
> Please consider leaving a review, it really makes my day getting to hear what you think and what you liked! I'm...so desperate for validation haha! If you want me to work faster and happier that's the surefire way to go.
> 
> Hope you're all having a nice holiday season and please enjoy the nigh-gratuitous amount of smut stuffed into this chapter!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I just wanna first say I'm so sorry for the delay in writing this, and that I'm possibly changing the amount of chapters total from this point out so it flows a little better. Having inconsistent chapter lengths bothers me but the fact that this one is shorter makes it no less sinful no worries. I just struggled a lot with coming to realize I laid out most of the framework in the 40k+ words I already wrote and that I needed to stop beating myself up and just post the chapter when it wanted to be posted, as someone real special helped me remember. I am totally still working on this please forgive me. Please enjoy this chapter! Your feedback means the world to me!

_"Don't be stupid...if you're gonna do it...do it yourself."_

_"Hmmm?"_

_"It doesn't matter if we promise to work together...Someone will still betray us...Betray us and...kill one of us..."_

_"..."_

_"There's no way we can beat him...And...I can't afford to die here anyway...Not when I still need to invent something that's gonna change the world! But, if it does work out...come help me, okay? I'll do anything-anything!-to thank you..."_

Until that moment, Kokichi hadn't realized how deeply she'd been hurting. Everything started to make sense in the ways he least wanted them to: her growing reluctance at working on anything other than the computer on the third floor, how she'd stopped responding to his teasing with her characteristic lewd giggles and the secret looks they'd share when he did it around the others. Even alone, her attention always seemed to be elsewhere.

He eventually indulged her, just to find out what was going on inside her head. She brought him to the computer room and with unconcealed fervor helped him get connected to the computer with the helmet, and she did the same for herself. A pleasant emptiness built behind his eyes and they were together again in a place completely different: the cabin's hearth circulated actual, tangible warmth, enveloping the room in hazy comfort. Savory and sweet aromas wafted in from the kitchen and when Miu leaned up to breathe on the window, a little huff of condensation formed against the frosted glass.

"I need to fix some things first. It's not safe to stay in until I overwrite everything that could be used as a weapon, and make things unbreakable to that same end."

Since when had she become so comfortable with the idea of a padded cell?

"But-we're here. And we wouldn't have to leave. We...wouldn't have to worry about getting hurt anymore."

She of all people should've understood that there's more than one way to be hurt, and he really didn't want to demonstrate. He kept to himself that the heat from the fireplace was imagined, the scent of cooking food an elaborate facsimile, and that the handful of pixels standing on its toes to pretend to breathe on the windows of her little dollhouse was  _not_ Miu Iruma, that he'd take his chances in their living hell together as long as it meant he could be at the real thing's side, and not that of the ghost in the shell standing before him.

It wasn't like they hadn't survived hell together before.

'Hell' was becoming more and more synonymous with the inconvenient truth that in reality, their real bodies lay in chairs, still as corpses, and no amount of fantasy could change that they'd die there for nothing if they volunteered to euthanize themselves this way.

But who was he to take away the one thing she could perceive as an escape?

She didn't remember him, from before.

Her memories were even more broken than his, torn apart by traumas that were no one's place to force her to confront.

It made sense, knowing she'd lost them not once, but twice. Once by accident, and once by design.

"I feel...safe here. Don't you?"

Her doll-voice was brimming with emotion, but her doll-eyes were vacant.

Detached.

There was only so much emotion that could be expressed through an avatar's face. All scripted into one package of four. Happy, sad, angry, and neutral.

He knew he was losing her, losing the Miu that would never curl up in the stomach of her captor and allow herself to be processed, devoured, and purged. He couldn't even find the throat ready to swallow, couldn't force his fingers down and deal with the mess that would precede an escape, facilitate some hope.

She was planning something, and he was running out of time to find a reason for her to not go through with it. He wasn't enough of a reason in and of himself, even if their time together had given her pause, had drawn to the surface echoes of memories that were impossible for her to understand, things that had ghosted beneath her skin each time his fingers trailed across hers.

The card key he'd been waiting to use felt heavier in his pocket than before, now.

...

"Actually, why would you even want to stop the killing game? It's just starting to get fun! It'd be a waste to stop it now."

He'd never spoken like this before. Kokichi had been candid about their situation since they'd lost Kaede, but he'd never advocated for it.

"Oh, don't tell me...you guys aren't confident enough to win the game? Geez, if you're really that much of a weenie, then you might actually lose, y'know? But in my case, I'm full of confidence! I'll win this game, no matter what!"

"Are you planning on becoming the next blackened then?" Maki put the question to him as bluntly as could be. Miu's stomach churned.

"Me...? The next blackened?" Kokichi's face was a blank slate. "Yeah, sure. If that would help me win, then I'd do it."

"Are you serious...?" Shuichi's question echoed Miu's unspoken one.

"The game can't continue until there's another victim! So someone, start killing already! If you dooon't, then I'll kill someone instead! Just like I promised, got it!?"

"Why you...That's enough!"

Kaito moved too quickly for anyone to intervene and his fist connected hard with Kokichi's face. Miu smothered a cry behind her hands, frozen in place, torn between the Kokichi before her who could say such horrific things with a smile and the one she knew behind closed doors.

"Kokichi...what the hell's gotten into you?"

She could hear Kaito speaking, but heard none of it. Kokichi's eyes were dissociative and vacant, his cheek swelling immediately from the assault.

_He's given up too, hasn't he?_

_God_ , she wanted to  _puke_.

"Kaito, please stop. There is never a good reason to commit violence. Even minor aggressions...can lead to atrocities such as murder."

Kiibo's calm voice leveled off the last of the aggression in Kaito and brought everyone to a platitude voided of enough animosity to sit and eat breakfast together in. Shuichi and Kiibo went to the kitchen to cook. Miu joined a few minutes later, bringing out coffee for herself, tea for Kokichi. He took the cup without looking at her or saying so much as a single word-his tousled hair could not quite obscure the growing bruise on his pale cheek-and took a single sip before leaving it for cold at the table, excusing himself to go to the bathroom. He didn't return. Miu laced her fingers into Kiibo's under the table, silently anchoring him. He didn't need to eat, and she didn't want to give either of them a chance to be alone with one another.

His thumb brushed over her knuckles and she stared at how her bright puffed cereal bled its color into the milk as she clinked the spoon against the side of the bowl.

And then before he could think to trail after danger, she chaperoned him to his room and loved his ever-starstruck, ever-willing body into the mattress with such fervor that if he noticed the plum and honey evidence of an earlier tryst speckling her thighs beneath where his hands were adding evidence of his own, he did not speak of it. Every shift of her hips rising and falling into his made her flinch from the ache she couldn't help but relish. She knew he'd hold back with regards to his own satisfaction until she had hers, so she was quick about it: she hadn't even bothered to undress when she'd mounted him and smothered him with greedy kisses, hands under her skirt to drag her panties aside before pinning his palms with hers. Feeling his hips reciprocate hers so quickly made her chest bubble with breathless laughter as she pushed herself into the necessary headspace, grinding herself back and forth on his length until she was slick enough to take him in one shot. It was quick, filthy, and painful, but she grinned and endured it until she was sure that any half-formed plan of his to try to reason with Kokichi had been suppressed by exhaustion.

His eyes were alight with dumbstruck awe, and it never stopped amazing Miu how innocent and...boyish he could look even after doing these kinds of things with her. He acted like every time was the first and was forward with his emotions.

She'd long regretted not being able to do the same for him in the beginning, but after Kokichi had joined in, had drawn it out of her-

_God_ , how could it be  _normal_ , to be so vulnerable? To feel like someone could see down her eyes and into her soul.

_(Convenient then, isn't it? That you have two eyes. One to cry for Kii-boy. And the other-)_

Miu panted hard, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

_(-that one's all mine, right? You're gonna save those tears just for me. You know, for when you try to ki-)_

"...Miu?"

She made her excuses and suppressed the guilt that she'd used her body to use his, that she hadn't given his desires a second thought as she wore him out, betraying his trust as she encouraged him to enter sleep mode, to recharge more efficiently-

-and as he slept unaware, she confessed her future sins to a camera, exported the video, and hid it in his sleeping psyche before she could second-guess herself.

...

The guilt was written all over her face, and Kokichi had the distinct feeling that it was not because there was a lifeless body left behind in Kiibo's room as she exited it.

Rather, that she was coming to terms with the idea that she wouldn't be able to escape the reality she'd trapped herself in when it came to him and her.

'Reality'.

That she loved him, and she was going to kill him? That he loved her, and she was going to try to kill him?

Or that they were both wretchedly, terribly in love with one another, and that neither knew who would be the death of who?

"And where do you think you're going, Miu?" A cheshire grin split his lips and he blinked innocently at her, arms tucked back behind his head as though it could be any other day than their last together.

"...To the computer room."

"Wow! You're gonna make something to end this killing game, aren't you? I'll come watch!"

She didn't object or agree, so he followed her, eyes fixed between her shoulder blades as she went for the third floor.

"You know, Miu-" Kokichi started up as they reached the landing, "-isn't it awfully brave of you to turn your back on someone like me like this?...Or just stupid?"

"H-Huh?"

"Everyone knows by now what a harmless wimp you are. Don't you worry about someone following you and cornering you in a dark and grisly place like this? Or are you so sick of it here that you kind of wish someone would?"

Miu rubbed her hands over her arms, as if warding some imaginary chill.

"By now you're probably wondering, 'what the fuck is wrong with him all of a sudden?' and are wracking your little pea brain about what could've changed so quickly, huh? But all you can be assed to care about is this archaic hunk of junk, huh? It's so mean, I could just-!" Big cartoonish tears welled up as he sucked in a breath and wailed, comically loud as always. "-What's so good about it anyway, huh?" He continued in a completely normal tone the very next moment, "Did you find a way to have virtual reality sex with something with enough dicks for all your holes?"

"Huuuh? No!" Miu balked as she sat down in her usual chair and set the helmet she'd used last time aside, then got to work editing some lines of code on a computer she'd hooked up to the main console, "You got to see it last time, did it look like I had anything like that?...Though to be honest if anyone wanted to do anything there, they wouldn't even need a rubber."

"Whaaat? That's so dumb, who in their right mind would be interested in watching fake characters have sex?"

"G-Geez, get blown-! Look, I'll be done in a few hours and I'll even tweak it so you can watch all the nasty porn you want and you can stop toying around with me. Happy?"

She tried not to notice the glimmer of how his features deadpanned momentarily, as if squirreling away some sincere reaction.

"Hey, that's mean, Miu. I'm all pent up too. What about my maintenance? I already told you I don't wanna watch other people go at it. This big computer is frustrating." Kokichi paced to where she was seated and balanced his chin on the monitor of her laptop, his hands at either side of her legs on the chair.

"You didn't think you'd drag me along with no incentive, did you? I know you're conceited, but seriously Miu, that's so cold!" The over-the-top, sugary-sweet bleeding-heart tone froze to ice as he slammed her laptop closed. "-I've been spoiling you. Right...?" Miu didn't even have room to process the rage of having her work closed as he leaned ever closer, forcing her to shrink back into the chair-

"...princess?"

-scared rabbit, hiding in plain sight by lack of motion alone. Completely helpless.

"Wh...What the fuck." Miu intoned through a stiff mouth, relying on her tongue to form the necessary words as her every instinct told her not to move a muscle, "I thought you w- _wanted_  to come-"

The smile that curled his lips and dimpled his cheeks, crinkled his eyes so adorably was too innocent for what passed it next.

"Is that an invitation? Oh, who am I kidding. I'm the villain, right? I'm supposed to do bad stuff-" He whisked her laptop away and set it on the floor, sliding it away with a careless nudge of his foot. She started standing in protest, but he caught the strap-laden loop that framed her chest in his fingers and pulled her back down with a violent jerk, as though having anticipated that exact reaction, "-like cornering the  _clueless_  princess and using her like the receptacle she is, right?"

"C...Cluele-?"

She'd felt extra meaning vested in the word, but she couldn't ask in time. His hand cupped her throat in the sort of caress that could preface a mortal closing of her windpipe, lifted her chin, and he smothered her protests beneath lips warmed with poison words.

Her mind blanked instantly, eyes flying wide open, his body silhouetted in the cyan and aqua lights from the computer's core.

She tried not to think of how real it'd felt and instead shoved him away with an arm, blurting out the first thing she could think of.

"-D-Don't  _fucking_  kiss me-!"

The exclamation hung in silence between them, a slender finger rising to the bemused part in his lips as she breathed hard.

"Straight to business then? Fine with me. Oh, and you know? I'm not trying to make you love me here-" He grabbed her from under her knees, tugging her forward until she was slouched deeper into the chair, so much more accessible to the hands that spread beneath her skirt, his nails on her stomach as he caught the edge of her underwear, prying it downward as she moaned out with a whimper of trepidation, "-I already know exactly how you feel about me-" His tone traced the border of amused sorrow, lips barely moving as he breathed out:

"-and how you'd  _rather_  feel."

"Aaaah-?!" Miu gasped as his fingers stroked through the slickness at her center with agonizing slowness. He stole her breath from centimeters away as she arched in the chair, smiling so close to her lips that if she moved it'd close the distance. She shifted the impulse to her hips instead, let the blinding hot feeling of euphoria swim up her body through where he touched her with a surrendering moan. His fingers sank deep and the exact moment he curled them she squeaked and sank back, a guttural sound coiling up from her chest.

"You're welcome to yell for your knight if you want."

For a moment she considered doing exactly that. He must've caught the flicker of genuine panic in her expression because his palm slid over her mouth and his other hand went to his waist to unzip himself. She moaned as she tasted herself on his fingers, their eyes met again, and only when Miu gave no indication that she was going to push him away did he line his hips up with hers, guiding the tip of his cock around the perimeter of her entrance. Another lurid moan came, vibrating through his slender fingers.

"...Though, maybe I want you all to myself this time. Even he wouldn't be able to resist joining in if he heard your voice pitching down these empty halls for him." Miu's voice came out muffled under his hand. "Aww, are you having second thoughts after all-?"

Kokichi peeled his hand off her mouth, letting the obscene mixture of cum and drool stretch between her lips and his fingers as she gasped out, cheeks flush-

"-No. I'll take what I'm given-"

And breathing just as hard as she was, his hips pressed into hers, slow in spite of the urgency behind the motion, hand back over her mouth, his entire length sinking in.

There was a moment of non-reaction from either side, in which Miu's eyes widened and watered in the silence, Kokichi's mouth dropping open with a stuttered groan, before he started moving again. Miu's head tipped back, irises plainly alight with euphoria beneath her hooded eyelids, and Kokichi forced out a bark of laughter.

"W-Wow, Miu-to think that you'd feel this good for a rotten guy like me..." His hips slowed down and she all but sobbed in protest, "...you must really hate being alone if you'll settle on me for something like this..."

Her body ached as she sank into the chair with each thrust, the arch of her neck leaving her smothered breaths inches from his lips.

"Maybe you won't need to be alone too much longer, huh? How about it, should I _-hah_ -should I finish off inside you? Our kids would be cute, right? You'd make a great wife, right?"

It was a long shot, but maybe he could give her a reason to keep from doing the inevitable.

Maybe she would want that future, or the possibility of it.

( _Maybe he did too_.)

Miu's squeal heightened an octave, her hand fumbling up to his wrist, drawing back the barely-there barrier between her lips and his, keening into him desperately.

He couldn't stop the tears. Hers, nor his own. His fingers found their way between hers and he let her draw him in to the kiss she'd so violently protested earlier.

It occurred to him that she was trying to cut off a sparkling smile and a declaration of 'that's a lie' that was never coming, and if it meant pulling away from her, from this, then he wouldn't correct her.

"Mmh-f... _fuck, Miu_ -"

He seats a deeper, faster pace and she sucks her breaths straight out of his lungs, her voice straining with desperation around his name as he fucks her down into the chair, and  _god_  what a sight she is, when he parts from her for just a moment to readjust inside her; the ribbon at her front loosened and letting her shirt slouch around her shoulders and chest, skirt shifting up to tease the sight of him entering her unclothed center, shimmering with arousal in the ethereal luminescence of the computer's glow.

"-you wanna cum, right-?" Kokichi breathes, tilting her hips and railing her harder as her voices wobbles with nonverbal whimpering, "- _Do it_ -ggh, Miu,  _Miu_ -"

He can't breathe any better than she can now, blinding heat firing off behind his eyes as she squeezes down on him on command with a telltale wail; knowing that his words were so linked to her body causes a spasm in his hips and a pull in his groin that he can't hold back as he sinks into her heat, just as lost as she is, cock twitching and aching as he empties rope after rope of cum deep inside with unmuted moans, slouches with the tug of her hands behind his neck until her sweet, sweat-slicked cleavage and her pink-scented golden tresses are all he's breathing.

If she caught on to knowing he was fucking her like it'd be the last time, she said nothing.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, breathed in hard at her neck, and her fingers toyed idly with his hair. He'd seen what was on the other side of the doors, of her smile, of his heart. There was nowhere left for either of them to go apart from how deeply they could tangle into one another.

It's all he can do to tell her nothing of it by showing her everything else, even if her eyes aren't open to see it.

...

Everyone passes (by).

The phone passes through each doll-like hand, a jacob's ladder to a truth they'll face before he has to.

Kiibo's bravery will be punished. He'll be the first to see her (body).

The (real) one.

Seconds slip by as the rest log out. He'll be last to behold his own damage.

Two minutes pass, because that's how long it takes for him to realize that an eternity wouldn't be enough time to be ready.

He lifts the receiver, unaware of the heartache that will pass through his body when he tastes the glossy evidence of her secretly-given kiss goodbye, when he carries the last moment she spent alive in his mouth, ready to retch.

(He'll remember what he said to her once, and lick his lips.)

"...Kokichi Ouma."


End file.
